


The Other Half

by misshallieB



Category: Code Lyoko, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Adventure, Ella Mansfield, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-03
Updated: 2018-08-22
Packaged: 2018-12-23 12:49:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 26,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11990136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misshallieB/pseuds/misshallieB
Summary: Ella Mansfield has been excited to go to Hogwarts even before she received her letter. But with her parents having a nasty fall out and her emotionally triggered powers becoming increasingly difficult to hide, she soon sees the magical school as a way to escape her family tension. Ella finds a new home at Hogwarts, making wonderful friends and trying to find herself in these new chapters of her life. While life at school provides security, she discovers that unexpected hardships come with the territory. Who knows what the years to come will bring as she faces adventure in the world of Harry Potter.





	1. Chapter 1

Warm light filtered through the leaves as a young girl peered up at the sky, her caramel curls splayed out beneath her head. She had been lying in the grass for an hour, trying to ignore the discomfort of the sweaty clothes clinging to her body. The summer had been nothing but extreme heat and today was no exception as the dry patch at the back of her throat reminded her. But, even if she was drowning in her own sweat, it was better than being back inside with her family. Her fingers twirled in the air slowly as she hovered some leaves above her head and weaved them in outlines of animals.  
“Ella!” The grass hissed a little as her body shifted. Ella did not want to go back into the house and ignored the calling, hoping the backyard would swallow her whole as she continued to play with the leaves.  
The voice called her name again and she heard a door slide open knowing someone was coming to get her since she was stubbornly refusing to answer. A boy with copper hair rounded around the tree and stared down at her with a small frown on his lightly freckled face.   
“Ella, come on back. Dinner is about to start and grandma and grandpa are asking about you.” His grey eyes clouded with concern. “It’ll be okay.”  
A small sigh left her lips as she sat up, resting her arms on her knees as she peered up at him, the leaves she had played with floating down to the ground. “It’s not going to be okay. Unlike you, my magic keeps messing up. At this rate both grandma and grandpa will have their full minds wiped away completely.”  
He shrugged. “At least you can use your magic since you haven’t started school yet,” he said.  
“This isn’t funny, Ulrich!” Her voice rose a little. “Dad is going to punish me again if I can’t stop!” Ulrich held his hand out to his sister and she hesitantly took it, letting him help her up. Her fingers ran through her hair nervously. “I don’t want to cause another incident..” Her father, a muggle, had decided in recent years that he didn't like lying to Ella’s muggle grandparents about how he married a witch. The children couldn't help that they were born with magical abilities, but he still seemed to hate those sides of them.   
They headed back to the house together and Ulrich closed the door behind them when they stepped back in. “Don’t think about it,” he suggested. “Just try to enjoy being with family. Or at least appreciate that Sebastian is here and we haven’t seen our brother since Easter.”  
Even with the scent of roast hanging in the air, Ella wasn’t hungry enough to sit at the dining table for fear of ruining the meal. She could hear the voices of her grandparents coming from the dining room and took a few deep breaths before she followed Ulrich to their seats.  
At the head of the table Ella spotted her father whose jaw was set and his dark eyes narrowing at Ella’s older brother who was talking happily. “Last week we caught a criminal who was notorious for attempting kidnaps. It was exhausting because we had to stake out his place after we received a report from one of the neighbors.”  
Both her grandparents sat together and looked impressed with their eldest grandson. Her father hated how Sebastian worked for the magical law enforcement and could pretend so easily that he worked for the muggle police department. But, what could he do? He didn’t want Ella’s grandparents to know anything about the wizarding world. Sebastian didn’t ever let that stop him from talking about the work he loved.  
“I didn’t see anything like that in the papers,” her grandfather had replied as he grabbed for a roll. “What was his name?”  
“Cole Xana. He’s now in custody, so you might see it later this week.”  
A woman with brown hair tied back strolled into the room with a two year old boy on her hip and a bowl of mixed veggies in her other hand like a waitress. After setting the boy in a chair between Ella and Ulrich, she set the veggies down and took her place next to their father. “That was the last thing I had for everybody! Dig in!”  
The Mansfields all began to pass the food dishes around, taking helpings when the plates reached their hands. Ella’s grandmother was the first to compliment the woman who had prepared the meal. “Lynn, this food is wonderful.”  
“Yeah, mum,” Sebastian said around a mouthful of food. “The mashed potatoes have gotten creamier since I left.”   
Lynn smiled. “I’m glad you’re all enjoying it. It wouldn’t taste nearly as good if my dear mother-in-law hadn’t given me that recipe book,” she nodded her head towards Ella’s grandma. “Ella, would you mix Danny’s food for him?” She nodded to the toddler besides Ella.  
“So, we’ve heard about Sebastian’s work and Ulrich going to school but we haven’t heard anything from Miss Ella,” Her grandfather grinned at her. “We almost thought you had disappeared on us didn’t know if you were coming back.”  
Embarrassment glowed in her stomach. She didn’t mean to ignore her grandparents when they arrived and hoped they hadn’t felt that way. Throwing her father a nervous glance, Ella replied, “I just got lost day dreaming in the yard. What would you like to hear about?”  
“Ulrich's told us about his school experience,” her grandmother said after swallowing a bite of roast. “Tell us how school is going for you.”  
Mixing the food for her baby brother to focus, Ella said hesitantly, “I.. well I am switching schools and joining Ulrich come September. So I’m excited after hearing about all of the friends he’s made and it sounds like the classes are wonderful.” A small smile spread across her face. She was going to join Ulrich at Hogwarts in a little over a month. The date couldn’t arrive any sooner.   
“School, is wonderful,” Ulrich chirped, his grey eyes lighting up. “All of my professors are excellent.”  
“What’s your favorite class?” Their grandfather asked.  
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see her father’s knuckles turn white as it gripped a fork. His jaw set again and he had stopped eating. The sight made Ella feel nervous.  
“I’d have to say.. Chemistry,” her brother decided. “We make different potions- well experiments. Our professor likes calling our experiments ‘potions’ for fun. I think I've got a natural knack for it.”   
“I loved gym,” Sebastian said. “When I went to their school I was best at learning.. defense.” Ella knew he was talking about Defense Against the Dark Arts which was nothing at all like a muggle athletics class.  
Their grandfather smiled. “You must take after me. I was always a top performer. Did you ever join a sports team, Sebastian? Or you, Ulrich? I’d love photos of them in their uniforms if you have any Stefan,” he addressed the frozen statue that was Ella’s father.  
His face had finally moved. He glared at his wife across the table before saying, “No photos. Lynn and I.. keep forgetting to purchase any photos for our children.”   
Everyone looked uncomfortable as husband and wife seemed to stare each other down. Lynn’s eyes never faltered and she seemed to be communicating silently to him.. Ella’s plate rattled a little, causing her to flinch and hold it in place. Don't lose control, don't lose control, don't lose control. She chanted in her head, as she took deep breaths. Dad can't punish me if grandpa asks questions we can't fully answer.  
Someone cleared their throat, breaking Ella’s thoughts and she returned her attention to her family. Her grandfather furrowed his brow at his son before turning back to his grandchildren and asked, “Ella, will you be in sports, too? What class will be your favorite?”  
The plate stopped moving in her hands and she wiped her palms clean before helping her baby brother eat again. “I’m not sure which class will be my favorite but I'm not planning to join the Quidditch team-”  
“Quid ditch?” Her grandmother asked, brow furrowing. “What in heavens is that?”  
She bit her lip, realizing her mistake. She could feel her father’s eyes fixed on her as if he could fix her slip up with his glare. “It's.. er..”  
A fork clattered as her father freed his hand to pinch his nose. Her grandfather frowned and said, “Son, you feeling alright?”  
“Yes,” he said through gritted teeth.   
“We could just tell them,” a voice said quietly. Sebastian, Ulrich, and Ella turned their heads sharply to their mother. “They want to be a part of their lives,” Lynn continued. “Maybe telling them would bridge that gap.”   
Their grandparents opened their mouths, faces clouded with confusion until a the firm slam! of Stefan’s hand crashed into the table causing the dishes to quiver and the children to flinch.. “Absolutely not!” He practically shouted. “My parents don't need to know about any of their nonsense!”  
“Dad!” Sebastian snapped. “Calm down!”   
“What's he talking about?” Their grandmother asked. “What are you hiding? Is it something to do with the kids?” From beside Ella, Danny’s plate began to hum.  
“Nothing mother,” Stefan huffed. “Nothing that you need to worry about.”  
“It's not fair to them or the children,” Lynn started again but Stefan silenced her.  
“It's not fair to me that all of my children are bewitched!” He spat back.  
Ulrich was covering his ears as their parents began to shout at the table. Their grandparents were yelling, too, trying to stop the argument. Sebastian took out his wand out from his trousers when their father grabbed his knife.  
Ella’s chest tightened and she felt like she was being absorbed into the noise of fighting and now Danny’s crying. She hugged herself and shut her eyes tight, but felt her sanity slipping and before she knew it all of the dishes began to hover off of the table. They shouting died down immediately as everyone stared, the table beginning to rise with the dishes.  
After what was happening registered, he father started screaming at her to stop, but all Ella could hear was her ragged breathing and the thoughts she was desperately trying to cling to of not losing control. She felt someone shake her and heard the dishes clatter together and forced her eyes open to watch the dishes whirling in the air as if a twister had entered the room.   
Ulrich was shaking her shoulders, begging for her to calm down, but she felt too stunned. The dishes whirled faster causing the door to fling against the walls and the table was suddenly swerving through the air, making a beeline for Danny.  
“IMMOBULUS!” Lynn cried at the same time as Sebastian, both of their wands drawn. Immediately the dishes and tables came to a halt, hovering in the air. Lynn took in a deep breath and let her wand cut through the air, allowing the dishes and table to come back to the ground.  
Her father's harsh voice finally got through to her as he said, “Ella, what is wrong with you?”  
Tears stung at the corners of her eyes as she peered at her father who looked like he would like to send her to the farthest corner of the earth. “I.. Dad, I didn't mean-”  
“You never mean it. But that doesn't stop you from causing accidents now does it?” He spat.   
“Stefan!” Lynn cried, her mouth gaping open. “How dare you say that to her!”  
“Wh-what just happened?” They looked at Ella’s grandparents who were backed against the wall, faces pale. “Why was everything flying?”   
Lynn sighed and glared at her husband. “I'll wipe their memories and clean this up.”  
“Just like last time,” Stefan muttered furiously and left the room in a hurry to get away from them.   
Ella had started crying silently, looking away from her grandparents. Someone grabbed her hand gently and lead her away from the dining room. She heard Sebastian say, “Stand still, grandma. This will only take a sec.”  
*  
Ulrich had Danny on his hip and pulled Ella up to his room. They didn't say a word to each other and climbed into bed together, Ella holding Danny and Ulrich running her back. The shock of the incident left her feeling numb and her older brother soothingly rubbed her back, not pressing her to come back to herself.  
Eventually they heard their other saying goodbye outside of the windows and muffled voices calling back cheerily. It was clear that their grandparents’ memories had been erased of the entire incident and they were leaving without the kids saying goodbye. But even though they left, Ella and Ulrich remained in his room, laying Danny between them on the bed until he fell asleep. It wasn't long before screaming resumed from downstairs and they could hear the distrusted voices of their parents going at each other.  
“I'm sorry for what happened,” she whispered to Ulrich, her voice shaking a little. “I don't know why this happens and I wish I was different.”  
Ulrich tried to smile reassuringly at his sister. “No one got hurt. And you know this wouldn't have happened if Dad didn't hate that we’re wizards. He treats us all badly.”  
“But mum had to clean up my mess and then grandma and grandpa were exposed to magic.”  
“Ella,” he said quietly. “It's going to be okay. We’re going to be at Hogwarts soon, and you can do all of the magic you want there.”  
“Will they let someone like me in? Someone who can't manage their magic?”  
She felt his hand squeeze her arm comfortingly. “Of course they will. They'd be crazy to pass up on allowing a bright witch like you learn at school. Just think about being at Hogwarts.”  
Once again they stopped speaking, their parents still screaming at each other. Lately the arguments had increased and it wasn't hard for any of them to fall asleep. Ulrich began to lightly snore and Ella drowned out her parents’ voices as she concentrated on Hogwarts. The place that would soon be her new home. The place where she could start fresh. As her eyes dropped Ella decided to let her worries go for the night, the last thought she had were of leaving this house and escaping to a new home where she could be herself.


	2. A New Chapter

The room was full of purple smoke. Ella started coughing, but not nearly as hard as Mr. Ollivander was. This was the twelfth wand that he had given her to try. He cleared the air with a wave of his own wand. A sigh escaped from Ella as she handed back the one she was holding.

"Does it normally take this long to pick a wand out?" She asked him before he disappeared to get more boxes.

His voice called from behind a few rows of shelves. "Sometimes, but that happens with certain witches and wizards." He returned with five more boxes. "Your dear mother took a while to finally find hers. Went through 20 of them if I remember correctly. But she finally managed to match to a maple wood with dragon heartstring at the core." Ella's mother and Ulrich both had left to get other school supplies. It was probably for the best seeing as Ella probably wouldn't find a suitable wand for her anytime soon. Ella was slightly getting anxious at the amount she was going through and her fingers began playing with her caramel hair.

A bell rang signaling someone else was entering the shop. Out of the corner of her eye, Ella saw two figures approach the desk carefully. One was a rather pretty girl of Asian descent and the other had an unusual, asymmetrical pixie cut. Both girls had black hair and seemed to be familiar with one another. Mr. Ollivander smiled. "Welcome ladies. I am Mr. Ollivander."

"I'm Cho Chang," The asian girl smiled.

"I'm Nellie McNabb," announced the other.

Mr. Ollivander nodded. "Alright, well let me go back and bring out some more wands for you two. Miss Mansfield, you can keep trying out the ones on the counter."

Ella looked at the stack in front of her and opened the top one. The reddish brown wood was cold in her fingers. She gave a wave and saw that nothing happened. She looked at her wand curiously before realizing that her wand actually did perform something- it caused a rather rotten smell to appear. Both of the girls at the other end of the counter made faces and covered their noses.

"Not that one," Nellie laughed. "Wow... that's awful."

"Agreed." Ella covered her own nose and placed the wand back into the box. `

"Oh my!" Mr. Ollivander was striding back with more wands, his nose crinkled. "That's rather foul.. Not that one Miss Mansfield." He waved his wand again and the scent vanished. "Why don't you try the third box? That one might be suited for you my dear. I have a good feeling." He set a couple of boxes in front of Nellie and Cho.

Cho looked over at Ella and gave her an encouraging smile. "You can't get much worse than that last wand. You'll find the right one." Cho had picked out one that was dark stained and gave it a wave. A few flyers on the window peeled off the glass and began to soar around the room.

Ella frowned a little. Her magic seemed to be less impressive and was only capable of minor disasters. She went back to opening the box that Mr. Ollivander had suggested. Nellie had looked through a few of the boxes. Not liking what she saw, she came over to Ella's pile and roved over her options. Mr. Ollivander didn't seem to mind this and let the three girls experiment. Waving her rather swishy wand, Ella grinned as she saw red and violet sparks shoot from the tip of her wand.

Nellie was grasping onto a lighter colored one with swirled ridges on the handle. Once she saw the sparks from Ella's wand, she waved hers and produced orange and teal streaks right away. Mr. Ollivander beamed at them. "Well there we have it. Those are both good wands." He examined Ella's first. "Yew wood, very interesting… Yew wood with a unicorn hair for the core. 11 ¾ in length. This is an interesting wand Miss Mansfield. I will be most interested to see where you find yourself in the future. I think your powers are triggered more by your emotions than the average witch. But, that's not a bad thing at all. This wand will definitely be useful to you as you start the next chapter of your life. If you want to have mastery in magic, you will definitely need to learn how to manage and use your feelings in relation to your wand. Yes indeed.." He handed her back the wand. Ella's cheeks blushed a little at the mention of her emotional use of magic. He didn't seem to notice and turned to examine Nellie's wand. "I think this wand has a natural calling to you. Poplar, with a dragon heartstring core. 13 inches long. This wand will suit you well Miss McNabb. You must have a surprisingly stern personality and clear morals to possess this wand." He handed it back to her. A crash signaled that Cho had waved a new wand that was not a good fit. "Oh dear.. Let me get you more to try out." He headed to the back again, leaving the three girls.

Nellie smirked. "Well, that wasn't too difficult. Your wand seems pretty unique." She added as she looked at Ella.

"I can't believe you got a wand right away. I had to go through over ten wands!" Ella exclaimed.

Cho groaned and looked at the few wands she had tried. "Sounds like I could be here for a while." She set down the current wand in her hand and opened a new box. "What's your name by the way?"

"I'm Ella."

"Oh that's a pretty name!"

"Thank you. Are you both looking forward to school?" Ella asked.

"Yeah, I've been waiting for so long now," Cho said. "I have an older cousin who is a fifth year. She's talked up Hogwarts so much that I could hardly stand it. But now it's my turn! It'll be nice to meet new friends."

Ella turned to Nellie. "How about you?"

"I didn't know I was a witch until I got my owl," Nellie twirled her new wand between her fingers. "Definitely a shock, but ever since my parents said I could go, I've been looking forward to school more and more. I've never been this happy to go to school before. And while my parents are muggles, they're rather happy for me." She smirked again.

"Oh, I haven't met a muggleborn before. I'm halfblood." Ella said. "Actually, I haven't really met too many other witches or wizards my age." She admitted. "It's nice to talk with you both."

Nellie laughed. "It is! I only have met Cho. And we met a couple of weeks ago when my mum brought me to Diagon Alley for the first time. She's told me all about the houses. It's nice to know more about Hogwarts before I get there."

There was a tap on the window and Ella turned to see her mother waving at her.

"That's my mum. I guess I better go. It was nice meeting you two though! I hope you find a wand soon, Cho!" Ella had fished for some coins and placed them on the counter. As she left, Cho called after her. "Nice meeting you, too!"

"Alright Ulrich, I think you grew a couple of inches this summer. You will need some new robes when we go to the shop." Lynn looked down at the parchment with Ella and Ulrich at her sides. Their mother had already bought Ella the school books and a new set of quills. She was excited to have a new wand that made her feel more confident in her abilities. However, she was a little unnerved as she thought about how Mr. Ollivander mentioned her strange way of using magic emotionally. It wasn't surprising to her to hear him discuss the importance of managing her emotions. Ella knew she would have to do her best at school to master her magic.

They continued down the street together. Ulrich was talking about buying a pet. His gray eyes lit up and he became more animated as he tried to persuade their mother. "Mum, wouldn't it be great to have an owl so we can write back and forth?" Ulrich puckered his lower lip at her.

Ella laughed at his attempts, ruffling his copper tone hair. "You're going to talk our ears off until she gives in aren't you?"

Ulrich pushed her hand away. "Oh come on, an owl would be so great! Don't you want a pet?"

Ella shook her head, "While I would love that, I don't know if I would have time for one."

Her hazel gaze shifted to their mum who was smirking. Lynn was scribbling a few notes on her parchment before addressing Ulrich. "Love, if you want to write to us they do have an owlery at school. You know what your father said. No pets until your third year." She guided them towards the robe shop. Ulrich gave an over dramatic sigh and ran ahead to get the door for Lynn and Ella.

"Sebastian had a toad his first year!" Ulrich tried once more, but this time their mother gave him a stern look.

"Nope. Times change. And you and Ella will get a pet soon, I promise. Okay?" Ulrich nodded and said no more as he followed the ladies into the shop. The three of them started sifting through the robes. Ulrich found a few and went to try them on. Their mum found a seat and picked up a stray copy of The Daily Prophet to read. As Ulrich came back out to show their mother the robe lengths, Ella started gathering a few robes that looked to be her size. She headed towards a changing room when she heard the shop owner's voice screech out "Excuse me! Stop running this-" The rest of the sentence got lost as a body slammed into Ella's.

"OW!" Ella hit the floor hard. She was stuck under a taller, gangly person. She looked up to see a redheaded boy who was shaking his head.

"Ow.. Oh sorry!" The boy blinked at her in surprise. He hurriedly stood up, smiling sheepishly while offering his hand to her. Ella huffed slightly and let him help her stand, her caramel waves were frizzed from the encounter. The boy glanced down at the robes she was carrying. "Shopping for Hogwarts?"

She couldn't help but grin a little. "Yes. It feels like I've been waiting ages for school to start. It's my first year," she added.

"I definitely get the anxiousness of waiting. Everyone feels like that." His gaze swiftly looked her over. "You're a bit tiny for a first year," He teased. "Do you have a name, or should I call you Short-stack?"

She stuck her tongue out at his comment but responded anyway."My name is Ella Mansfield. Short and fully capable to handle myself."

The boy laughed. "Nice name. Well, nicer than 'Shorty.' And you have lot's of snark for a pipsqueak." Ella enjoyed his happy-go-lucky banter. He opened his mouth, looking like he was about to say more when he heard the door to the shop open. The boy gasped and whispered to Ella hurriedly, "You never saw me, okay? It was nice meeting you! See you later!" He winked at her before running towards the back entrance.

Ella stood there stunned catching the last glimpse of ginger hair leave through the back door. After a moment or so, she finally turned towards where her family was. She took a step only to be crashed into by a dense body. "Really?!" Her robes were scattered on the floor again and she looked up to see a sneer of a large boy with sallow skin.

"Watch where you're going! Or maybe you can't help that you're unaware of anything outside of a 10 inch radius." The deepness of his voice sounded almost forced like he was trying to sound older than he was. He crossed his meaty arms. " Have you seen a red haired boy pass through here?"

"No. Just a large, rude donkey." Ella snapped at him. She was once again scraping robes off of the floor. With a glance, she noticed his jeans and saw they were torn at the midcalf. There were red marks where his skin showed. Standing back up, Ella realized she only came up to his shoulders in height.

The boy's sneer changed to a scowl as he shoved passed her. "You should watch yourself. Making snide comments at someone more powerful than you is never a smart move. You're lucky I have better things to do right now rather than teach you manners."

"Yes, I'm counting my blessings," She muttered. She glared at his back as he made his way to the end of the robe shop. It seems that it doesn't matter if she was with her family or not: drama follows her wherever she goes.

The trio finally finished robe shopping and found Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. As their mother ordered for them, Ella retold her story of the boys at the robe shop.

"I wondered what happened to you. I think I heard you run into the first boy." Lynn said. She handed her money to the salesman and gave Ella and Ulrich their ice cream. The three of them exited the parlour. Ella had caramel and fudge ice cream. She shifted her bag of items so she could eat her snack.

Ulrich looked thoughtful for a moment as he started on his ice cream. "The second boy sounds a lot like Theo Reid. He's going to be a third year at school," he said.

Ella crinkled her nose at the thought of running into the mean boy again. "What house is he in?"

"Ravenclaw. He's a smart guy with a mean streak." Ulrich responded. "I've seen him around a lot. He's a thug. I'm surprised you stood up to him." He smiled before eating more of his treat. Internally, Ella was cringing. The idea of already making yourself known to a bully like Theo did not excite her whether she's brave enough to keep standing up to him or not. But hopefully the brute would forget about the whole thing by the time September 1st came round.

"The redhead boy was probably one of the Weasley twins." Ulrich interrupted Ella's thoughts.

"Weasley twins?"

Ulrich nodded. "Yeah, Fred and George Weasley. Those two know how to pull brilliant pranks. They absolutely love a chance to play a joke. It had to be one of them you ran into."

Lynn smiled. "I know that name. I went to school with an Arthur Weasley. Are those boys in Slytherin like you?"

"Nope, Fred and George are in Gryffindor. Suits them best since it always seem like the Gryffindors are having parties. The twins tend to be the loudest of the bunch. But I like them, they're funny." Ulrich finished his ice cream before continuing. "Ella, what house do you hope you get into?"

"I was in Ravenclaw," Their mother interjected before Ella could say anything.

Ella grinned at their mum. "Well I'm not sure. I could be like you, mum! I mean, Ravenclaw is the witty and creative house, right?" She looked at Lynn who nodded proudly. "Well I could definitely see myself in there." Ella and Lynn both finished their ice creams.

Ulrich snorted. "Yeah the haughty house full of snobs." That earned him a playful nudge from their mother, who was laughing.

"You're just saying that because you weren't witty enough to get in," Lynn said.

He rolled his eyes dramatically. "Oh right.. I'm plenty witty and creative. Slytherin is just better. I have no shame being in the ambitious house. I work hard, and I have good friends in Slytherin! Ella, you should join me, our house is full of talented people. Also, we don't have Theo Reid."

"You know, that would be a good fit for Ella in all honesty," Their mother added. "There are plenty of gifted witches from Slytherin. One of my good friends from Hogwarts was in Slytherin," Lynn noted.

"It's a difficult choice," Ella finally said. "Sebastian was in Gryffindor, you were in Ravenclaw, and Ulrich's a Slytherin. Maybe I could be in Hufflepuff so someone from our family can be in each house." She smirked. "I'm loyal enough."

"Loyal, but not boring," said Ulrich.

"Oh Hufflepuff isn't a house to mock," Their mother said. "In fact a lot of people there could be trusted probably more than anyone of the other houses."

They reached the gateway back to the Leaky Cauldron. Their mother took out their wand before tapping the bricks that triggered the opening. Lynn kissed her daughter's forehead before they walked through to the Leaky Cauldron. "Love, no matter which house you get into, we will all be happy for you. A Slytherin like Ulrich, or a 'boring' Hufflepuff, whichever. We will be proud of you. But, if you do get into Ravenclaw, you will be my favorite child," She teased.

The three laughed and Ella thought for a moment about how nice it was for them to be at ease like this, away from the tension of home. She couldn't remember the last time it had been this light and fun. It would be a dream if school was filled with the same kind of laughter and joy that they had been experiencing all day.  
*

Weeks had passed since their visit to Diagon Alley. The lightheartedness from that day was forgotten as life at home became strained. Cruel remarks were often exchanged between Lynn and Stefan. Stefan had even made mean comments to her in front of their kids. It became difficult for Ella to ignore the disgust that seemed to radiate from her father. Neither she nor Ulrich seemed to be able to figure out how to make things better. It seemed that Ella grew more anxious the worse her parents behaved. These emotions somehow triggered her magic to move objects around the house. Her powers grew more ridiculous to the point where the furniture was almost thrown into the walls. Finally, Lynn decided she needed to place a charm over Ella's room. Anytime Ella felt anxiety, she could run to her room and know that the charm subdued her raw power. Her mother's charm had helped significantly and now Ella spent most of her time either in her room or outside. Unfortunately, Ella's powers had caused Stefan to grow more distant from the family. Lynn and Stefan eventually stopped arguing. But what replaced the shouting matches was drowning silence.

Both Ulrich and Ella ignored their parents' problems by occupying their time. Ella would bury her nose in her new books or question Ulrich about Hogwarts. The more he told her, the stronger her ache grew to leave. After much waiting and depressing days at home, she was able to cross off the final day before they would board the Hogwarts Express.

Ulrich sat on Ella's bed, looking through some of the letters he received from friends over the summer. On her lavender rug, Ella was thumbing through her copy of Hogwart's, A History. Their trunks were all packed and the two were doing their best to withstand the last 12 hours stuck at the house. Their little brother, Danny, was playing with one of his toy trucks by Ella.

"Sometimes it feels like we'll never get out of here." Ulrich sighed. He folded up the letter he was reading and turned on his side to face Ella. "I never thought mum and dad would get this bad."

She didn't look up from her book. But she couldn't seem to process the sentences anymore. Guilt was churning in her stomach. "Ulrich.. Do you think it's my fault that mum and dad are arguing so much?"

"What? Ella, of course not. Dad has been acting strange for a while. I mean when I got my owl, he didn't seem thrilled for me."

"But he seems to have gotten much worse since I've started using my magic. I mean I'm not going to beat myself up over his attitude, but I do feel a little bit like some of this might be my fault."

Ulrich sat up and gaped at his sister. "Ella, you can't be serious. Don't start looking down on yourself because dad is being rude. You're ten years old, he's an adult! If anything, he needs to get over something he can't change. Besides, mum and Sebastian are over the moon about you going to Hogwarts. I am as well."

She made a small smile. "Thanks Ulrich. I just want to please all of our family."

"Yeah, I understand that. But don't worry about dad. If he wants to be an old fart about this whole thing, then fine. You're going to make a good witch, Ella."

Danny was giggling and bumping his truck into Ella's book. She smiled and kissed his cheek. "Well, I'm really happy that we both are getting out of here tomorrow. Too bad Danny has to stay behind though."

"Yeah, but he'll have his day. Maybe dad will be different by then. Come on, let's get to bed. The faster we fall asleep, the faster this nightmare will end."

Platform 9 ¾ was bustling with families all saying goodbye. Both Ella and Ulrich had placed their luggage on the train and were with their mother one last time. Their father had failed to even get up to join them for breakfast, let alone see them off to school. Neither the kids or Lynn mentioned his absense, and the morning was too busy to place much thought on it otherwise.

The train blew its horn, signaling departure. Lynn quickly kissed Ella and Ulrich's foreheads. "Okay sweeties, write often! And tell me as soon as you get settled in what house you're into!" The two kissed their mother back and hopped on a platform as the train began to leave.

"Bye mum!" Ulrich called out. They waved to their mother until she disappeared. The journey to leave from home had just begun. Ulrich left Ella to go find his friends. Ella wandered around the compartments, wondering if she'd find Nellie or Cho. After a bit, she heard a male voice call to her from one of the compartments. "Hey there Short-stack!"

Ella peered in and saw two copies of the red headed boy she saw that day in the robe shop. "I'm seeing double trouble!" She teased.

The twin closest to the door groaned. "Like we haven't heard that one before." The twin by the window waved her in. "Join us!" Ella came and sat by a dark skinned boy and dark haired girl who were sitting across from the twins.

Ella crossed her arms and smirked. "So which one of you did I have the pleasure of being crashed into?" The one on the right by the window grinned mischievously.

"That would be me! I'm George. And this is my less handsome brother, Fred." Fred rolled his eyes and elbowed George. "You wish you were more good looking."

Ella turned to the boy next to her. "I'm Ella."

The girl on the other side of him leaned forward so she could see Ella. "I'm Alicia. Nice to meet you!"

The boy smiled and held out his hand. "Lee, Lee Jordan." She shook his hand.

"How come he gets a handshake?" Fred put on a fake pout.

"Probably because he has not crashed into me nor does he look like the person who did the crashing."

George smiled. "Oh come on now, it wasn't that bad."

"Well not for you, but I have a few bruises." Ella tucked her hair behind her ear and continued, "I also had a rather rude encounter with the boy who was after you."

George's grin widened and his eyes got a playful glint. "Oh, you mean Theo? Sorry about that, I didn't mean for you to cross paths with that brute." He and his brother exchanged knowing looks and Lee snickered from beside her.

She tilted her head. "What exactly did you do to him? I saw his pants were torn or ripped or something like that."

George leaned back with his hands resting behind his head as Fred chuckled and said, "Oh Theo was in need of an attitude adjustment. That git was trying to be rude to one of our friend's, Angelina."

"He told her that she shouldn't try so hard to look so ugly since she did a good job of naturally appearing hideous," added Lee. Fred's face darkened a little at the memory.

"Oh yes, Angelina was seething," Alicia said. "I had to hold her back to keep her from punching his face."

Ella looked shocked. "That's terrible."

"Yeah, we weren't too pleased with that either," said Fred. " George and I decided to follow him and wait for an opening to strike. We followed him to the pet shop and let loose some nasty little lizard creatures onto his legs. They've got a little bit of acidic bites that temporarily make your skin burn. Had him dancing and screeching for a bit as the little suckers ripped his pants." He smirked.

"Well I released the lizards," George piped in. "Fred distracted Theo so I could get him from behind. Fred ducked out quicker than I could. I had that idiot running after me until I lost him at the robe shop." George smiled at Ella again. "Thanks for distracting him while I got away."

Ella rolled her eyes but smiled anyway. "First time is free, next time I'm charging."

George laughed. "Deal, Shorty."

The five of them had a great journey. Ella felt at ease and loved hearing about some of the pranks they had pulled on teachers and other students. Lee, Alicia, and the twins were in the same year as Ulrich and she found out that most of the Gryffindors didn't care for the Slytherins. Alicia had been the only one who knew Ulrich. Despite their distaste for her brother's house, Ella found herself happier with them than she had been at home for a long time. Hanging out with them also made her feel like she actually fit in and didn't need to feel anxious about proving herself to anyone. When it was time to get their robes on, Ella was almost sad to see that their time together was about to come to a halt. Alicia ad got onto the platform and left to find one of her friends. Fred helped Ella off of the train.

"I think you'd make a good addition to Gryffindor," He said to her. "Have you decided which house you want to be in?"

"I think I'd be happy in any of the houses to be honest."

George hopped onto the platform followed by Lee. "You know, Short-stack, I think Fred's right. You might like Gryffindor quite a bit." That playful glint was back in his eyes. "We can apprentice you in the ways of mischief."

"I'd rather not be tainted by your reputation. Having a good stand with the teachers before classes start would be nice." She smiled. She spotted Ulrich talking to his friends. He gave her a small wave. She waved back before hearing a loud booming voice call for first years.

Fred nudged her towards a rather large person was standing in a gaggle of small, round eyed students. "That's you. We'll see you at the feast!"

"And maybe at our table?" George smirked at her. She smiled and shrugged in response. The three boys left with the rest of the students, leaving her to start her journey.

Ella was excited as the first years and the giant man called Hagrid sailed across the lake in little boats. The black lake glittered with the reflection of the distant lanterns from the castle. Looking at Hogwarts from outside, Ella felt that there was an air of mystery along with wonder. The other students in her boat murmured throughout the whole trip. When they got to the shore, Ella found the girls from the wand shop, Nellie and Cho.

"Ella! It's nice to see you!" Cho and Nellie walked with her into the castle. "Did you have a nice ride on the train?"

Ella nodded. "Yeah, I found some second years to sit with."

Nellie chuckled. "Wow, making friends with older kids. You're so cool already." She smiled. "We had a compartment with a first year named Katie. Wish you could have joined us."

The first years all gathered at the top of the stairs where a teacher with a pointed face and emerald green robes stood. "First years, I am Professor McGonagall, head of Gryffindor house. You will enter the great hall where the rest of staff and students will be waiting. You will stand by the tables where the professors are at and wait until I call your name for you to be sorted. There are four houses to be sorted into: Gryffindor- the house I lead- Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Once sorted, you will join your house by sitting at the designated table with the other students in that house. Here we go."

McGonagall led them through large doors that opened on their own. The first years walked behind her. Ella spotted her brother amongst students at the Slytherin house. He gave her a huge grin and waved. She passed by where the Weasley twins were sitting and they both winked at her. She rolled her eyes and smirked at them. The first year students finally stood by the tables up front of the great hall and waited as Professor McGonagall stood by a large, rugged looking hat and a stool. The hall was filled with silence as everyone waited. "Garrett Aldridge!" A blonde haired boy with long legs made his way to McGonagall. He sat on the stool and when the hat was placed on his head, the hat's ripped brim widened and Ella heard it belt, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

A chorus of cheers erupted from one of the tables. Garrett stood up and stumbled a little as he made his way to his new house. Meredith Ayers was called next and was placed in Slytherin. Hera Blake was sorted into Hufflepuff. Katie Bell was placed in Gryffindor. Cho Chang was called next and both Nellie and Ella quietly wished her luck. When the hat called, "RAVENCLAW!" Nellie and Ella clapped loudly along with the Ravenclaw table.

The list continued and soon Professor Mcgonagall reached the 'M's' on the list. "Ella Mansfield!" Ella took a deep breath and walked to the stool. Her cheeks burned a little as she realized how much attention was on her. The hat was placed over her head and she heard it whisper in her ear, "Some conflicting possibilities here.. Let's see, there's a willing heart, a strong desire to defend and protect, and a rather creative soul. Also a surprising amount of ambition. Your family members were difficult to place as well. Let's see, where oh where do I put you.." There was sweat forming on her face as she waited in anticipation. After what felt like hours, the hat finally roared, "RAVENCLAW!" Ella breathed a sigh of relief. She got up happily from the stool and practically raced to her table. Cho slid over to give Ella room and she hugged her tight.

"We're in Ravenclaw together! This is so great!" Cho told her. Ella smiled and they both turned back to watch Nellie get called to the stool.

"Perenelle McNabb!" McGonagall called.

Ella smirked. "Perenelle? Interesting. I kind of like it."

Cho gripped Ella's hand and they both squeezed. "Hopefully she's with us!" Cho whispered.

Nellie reached the stool and sat as McGonagall placed the hat on her head. The hat seemed to take a little longer to place her. Ella wondered if the hat was talking to her as well. Finally the hat opened its brim and called "GRYFFINDOR!" Ella felt Cho's hand weaken. Slowly, they both started clapping for their friend. Nellie gave them a big grin before joining the Gryffindor table.

"She looks ecstatic to be in Gryffindor. That's good!" Ella told Cho. Cho nodded and started to smile again.

"Yeah.. and even though we're in different houses, I suppose we will still see her."

Nellie found a space between another first year and Fred Weasley. She was facing Cho and Ella and the girls saw her mouth, "Sorry!" Both Ella and Cho smiled and gave her a thumbs up. George was beside Fred and he caught Ella's eye. He shook his head in mock disappointment. She simply stuck her tongue at him and turned back to watch the rest of the first years get sorted.

The feast ended a couple hours later. The food had been delicious and Ella had met quite a few Ravenclaws that would be in her classes. When it was time to leave, the prefects had lead the first year Ravenclaws to the common room where Ella was delighted to see relaxing shades of royal blues and hints of silver in the floor and furniture. The first year girls' dormitory resided on the lower west side of the room. When Ella and Cho entered, they saw that other first year girls were unpacking. She and Cho had met some of their fellow classmates: Marietta Edgecomb who had strawberry blonde hair, Gemma Louden who was a shorter girl with dark, frizzy hair, Chasity Thompson who had dark skin and a pretty smile, and Beatrice Whitaker, a scottish girl who had pin straight brown hair.

Cho and Ella found that there were two beds left that were next to each other and claimed them. The girls were all finishing unpacking and placing their clothes in the small wardrobes between their beds. All of the girls- except for Gemma who still seemed rather animated- had been too exhausted to talk much. At last each girl crawled beneath their midnight blue covers. Cho turned to face Ella and smiled softly. "Welcome to our new home Ella. Sleep well."

Ella's eyes were drooping, but she grinned sleepily all the same and replied, "Sweet dreams…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will probably rewrite this chapter someday. These chapter I'm posting have been written for 6 months so I haven't had time to go back an rewrite everything. I hope you all enjoy the story!


	3. Light and Letters

The Great Hall was buzzing with excitement at breakfast the next morning. Ella and Cho were sitting with Marietta Edgecomb and Gemma Louden. Ella spread pumpkin butter on her toast as Gemma trilled on about their classes. “Oh, potions is tomorrow morning! That sounds great. My potions book was the most interesting to skim. I think potions will be my best subject. It sounds like making a stew or some type of gravy, but for magical reasons! My parents run a restaurant in Liverpool, did I tell you that?” Indeed, Gemma had mentioned her muggle parents’ job twice now. Cho looked over at Ella and gave her an amused smile. Across the table, Marietta was nodding politely every couple of sentences when Gemma would come up for air. It was unnerving how fast she could speak.

Tuning her out, Cho looked at their schedules. “First we have Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Gryffindors. Then Transfiguration with the Slytherins. Nellie will be in our first class!” Cho smiled big.

“That’s great! We can find her before class starts.” Ella took a bite out of her toast as her brother walked up behind them.

“Hey there! Congratulations on making Ravenclaw.” Ulrich smiled. Ella moved over to give him room to sit. Ulrich grabbed a piece of sausage and took a bite before sitting down. “Mum’s going to be thrilled. Seriously, as much as she said she would be proud about the other houses, she’s going to be ten times prouder that you’re in her house. And a little relieved that you aren’t in Hufflepuff. You're actually interesting enough to not be in that house,” He smirked. Marietta and Gemma slowly quieted down and stared at the siblings. They exchanged glances and started whispering while occasionally looking at Ulrich. He didn’t seem to pay attention and ate more sausage.  
"Cho, this is my annoying brother, Ulrich," She said. Cho waved from the other side of Ella. "Hello there." The girls across the table giggled again and Ella threw them confused looks.

“Nice to meet you. What’s your first class?” He asked.

“Defense against the Dark Arts. We’re with the Gryffindors,” Cho said.

“That will be interesting. That can be a competitive class. And those Gryffindors can be quite the opponents.”

Ella looked at their schedule again. “If that’s the case, you can bet Ravenclaws will outperform them.” She smiled. Ulrich chuckled and took his sister’s toast, taking a large bite. “Classes haven’t even started yet and you’ve become miss snob.” He teased. Ella nudged him. “You shouldn't chew with your mouth full, you're ill-mannered enough." That caused Ulrich to ruffle her hair. "I’m just being honest anyway," she added. "Mum said Ravenclaws are naturally gifted at learning spells quickly.”

Ulrich tutted before he took another bite. “Mum doesn’t know what she’s saying. Don’t be too gullible.”

Ella scoffed playfully. “Class is starting soon, so get out of here before your charm can’t save your snarky words,” she waved as if dismissing him. Cho giggled from beside her.

Ulrich raised his hands in a mock apologetic way. He finished off her toast and stood to leave. “Have fun, okay?” He ruffled her loose curls again before leaving them. Marietta and Gemma giggled from across the table. Ella looked at them and lifted her eyebrow. “Something funny?”

Gemma’s cheeks were pink and her frizzy hair swayed as she became animated again. “Your brother is rather handsome. He should come to our table more often.”

Ella laughed as Marietta and Gemma gazed at Ulrich who was making his way to the Slytherin table. Cho lightly grabbed Ella’s arm. “I see Nellie! She’s leaving, let’s go catch up!” She hurriedly grabbed her bag of quills and books before leaving Ella to join their friend. Ella snatched an apple before following suit. She caught up to the girls outside of the hall and draped her arm around Nellie’s shoulders. “Hey, Perenelle! Congratulations on Gryffindor house!” She smiled.

Nellie beamed at her. “Thanks so much! And hush about my full name- It’s so regal sounding! Nellie is much more me.”

“Oh, I think Perenelle is pretty. But Nellie suits you fine,” she agreed.

“I was hoping you both wouldn’t be too disappointed that I chose Gryffindor,” Nellie admitted. “I wanted to be with you, but something about Gryffindor just seemed to resonate with me. There was this feeling I couldn’t quite shake. I’m glad you both are in the same house though.”

Cho also hung her arm over Ella’s, “Don’t be silly, we would never be disappointed that you chose a different house. Just a little sad that we aren’t all together,” she said reassuringly.

“What did the hat say to you by the way?” asked Ella. “I think you took the longest to be placed out of all of us.”

Nellie’s eyes faltered slightly and she shifted uncomfortably under their arms. “It was just having a hard time placing me in the right house.” Her gaze drooped to the floor.

After a moment of silence, Ella figured there would be a better time to ask about the sorting and switched subjects. “Tell us about the Gryffindor common room?” Nellie lit up again and spoke excitedly about the comfy sounding common room that the Gryffindors resided in. Ella smiled as her friend talked highly of her roommates and wondered just how often the three of them would see each other. It sounded like Nellie was getting on with her fellow Gryffindors.

“I’m with some interesting girls,” Nellie said. “Although, there is this one girl named Agnes who is a bit of a prat. I claimed a bed by the window and she put on a hissy fit,” she changed her voice to a higher pitch with a cranky tone, “‘You should take into consideration the needs of others first! I must be by a window! I have to be closest to the door! My skin gets so irritated if my aura isn’t right!’ And so on. She’s going to be a handful to deal with.”

“She sounds delightful,” Ella said sarcastically as they reached their classroom. Other students were starting to file inside. The girls sat next to each other in the classroom and continued chatting about their other classmates. The rest of the students took their seat after a few minutes.

“Good morning students,” A woman’s voice filled the classroom. The students looked up at the top of some spiraled stairs behind the back of a desk and saw a slim, tall witch in teal robes. She was braiding her hair and started to walk down the steps. “Welcome to Defense Against the Dark Arts where you will be learning how to, as the title states clearly, defend yourselves against dark magic.” Ella noted that the witch had an American accent.  
A faint scent of sage touched the air. The young looking woman was finishing her long blonde braid and placed her hands on her hips. “I am your professor, Lilica Matthews. If you expect an easy time in this class you are quite mistaken. This is a serious subject that is important not only for your education, but for your character and safety. There will be a lot of work cut out for you. But, along with hard work, you will all learn how to react quickly in harmful situations. There will be many rewards from doing well in my class, I promise you.” Professor Matthews stood behind her desk and took out her wand which had a silver gleam to it. “Go ahead and grab your textbooks and turn to page 56.” Professor Matthews waved her wand and a chalkboard levitated down the aisles and settled beside the desk. “Today we are going to discuss a basic spell that you all will be using quite a bit. And while it’s common, it’s of the utmost importance for you all.”

Ella, Cho, and Nellie shared a textbook and glanced down at the page where the words “Lumos” gleamed in red writing. “This spell is not only a way to defend yourself, but it is also practical. Lighting up the dark is a prime principle when deciding how you will use your learning from this school.” Professor Matthews pointed her wand upwards and the sunlit room went black. Ella waved a hand in front of her face and was alarmed when she couldn’t see the motion. Everyone waited in silence with the softest sound of their breathing. Ella heard footsteps taking their time along the side of the room. Professor Matthews’ voice came back again. “Fear of darkness is natural. The elemental qualities about darkness make it easy for us to fear it. Dark areas in contrast to sunlit areas are often cold. We use “darkness” to describe ideas, actions, or even objects that contain elements that go against our moral instincts while we associate “lightness” with things that fill us with a spirit of warmth. And yet either one can pierce the other,” she said with a misty tone. Her footsteps continued in a slow rhythm. The atmosphere seemed heavier as the silence stretched. A clammy hand brushed against Ella’s as Cho fumbled with her robes nervously. The air grew colder. “Darkness is the absence of light. And whilst magic produces sparks and rays to fight back, darkness threatens to engulf us.” The footsteps continued making their way along the back of the room. Some of the breathing sped a little and the tension in the room tightened around them, making Ella squirm. “The world is full of physical darkness, and inner darkness. Each and every one of you must decide how to walk through this life as you encounter the dark arts.” The blackness and silence almost deafened her. For a few more minutes the creaking of the floor underneath the professor’s feet kept the students on edge. Finally the footsteps stopped at the front of the class.

Professor Matthew’s voice seemed to whisper into Ella’s ear, “Will you choose to light up the dark?” Someone whimpered from behind their desk. Ella’s breath seemed to catch in her throat. Was this professor trying to intimidate them? Even though she couldn’t see the others, the atmosphere clearly told her that she was not the only one in awe and afraid.

“LUMOS!” Professor Matthews cried. A brilliant shining light erupted from the tip of Professor Matthews’ wand. Their faces were glowing in pale blue light. She flicked her wand so that the orb of light rose high to the ceiling. Every person’s eyes were glued to the source of light. “This is a simple spell,” she continued strongly, her body seeming to hover out of the sea of black. “It is the most basic spell you will learn.” More lights were producing from the tip of her wand and soared throughout the room like tiny bits of stars. “If you take this basic spell for granted, you will be doomed to treat the potential light inside of you the same.” She lifted the wand above her head, causing the lights to dance and mesmerize the class. The lights began to circle the class and practically kissed Ella's face in passing. Finally, the orbs soared back to the tip with each snuffing out like a candle. The lighting of the room bled back into the scene. The air began to become warm again. Staring at them all, Professor Matthews wore a sad smile. “Don’t ever forget that you have the power to light up the dark in this world. Even with the simplest magic.” One of the pieces of chalks lifted and began writing on the board behind her. Her smile became warmer as she said “You can start taking notes,for we are about to talk about the more boring side of this spell: the history.”

All of the students chatted excitedly as they were heading to their next class. “That was incredible! And she’s quite the looker.” One of the Gryffindor boys was saying. Beatrice Whitaker’s scottish voice called over his. “I was scared out of my mind even though she had us sittin’ there for a only a bit o’ time.”

Ella was grinning and walked alongside Cho and Nellie and her Gryffindor friend, Katie Bell. “That was cool. I can’t believe she made a simple lesson so interesting. I was on the edge of my seat!” Ella said.

Katie nodded excitedly, “That was pretty brilliant! I didn’t know what she was going to do when she was going on about the principles of darkness!”

“Yes,” drawled a high pitched voice from behind them. “In my opinion, I thought she was a bit creepy with all of that talk of darkness and everything.” The voice belonged to a redheaded girl with freckles and ivory skin. “I thought she’d never stop gabbing while she kept us blind. What a weirdo.”

“Oh don’t be such a pansy, Agnes,” Nellie rolled her eyes, addressing the redhead. It was difficult to tell if Agnes was forcing her nose to be up so high or if it naturally sloped that sharply. Agnes snorted (which Ella thought made her round face more pig-like) and then forced her way between the girls. “She was being overdramatic. How ridiculous to exaggerate so much over an easy spell. My baby cousin could probably cast it in his sleep. There’s no need to cause all of that tension. It’s going to make me stress out and grow pimples.” Her voice got squeakier with each word.

“We wouldn’t want that. It would just excuse you to cast more attention on yourself,” said Nellie with a team in her green eyes. Ella tried not to choke as she held down a snort whilst Katie covered her mouth to mute her loud laughter. Agnes’ face screwed up with disgust at them. “Oh get over yourself McNabb!” She called before striding away.

Katie jabbed Nellie in her side. “That was a bit rude! It’s barely been one day and you're already making enemies!” But whatever she thought, Katie was still smiling. Cho added distastefully, “Wow, she really is a bit of a handful. I don’t know if I could even try to get on with someone so stuck up.”

Nellie shrugged, tucking the side of her hair that was long enough to fit behind her ear. “Well, we’ll make the best of it. That lesson was really good no matter what she says. And I think Professor Matthews cares about our learning which is why she made the lesson.. Unforgettable.” The other girls nodded in agreement. The four of them talked about their schedules for a little bit before reaching the stairs.

“Well, this is where we split,” said Ella. She and Cho hugged Nellie. “See you at lunch?”

“Definitely,” Nellie smiled. They waved off the Gryffindor girls before heading to Transfiguration.  
"I hope more classes with Professor Matthews will be like that," said Ella. "Teaching with that technique would actually make me want to do homework."  
The Transfiguration lesson seemed like it would never end. But finally, with a lot of discouraged looks around the room, Professor McGonagall let the students leave. It had been much more difficult than Ella had initially thought. One of the Ravenclaw boys, Roger Davies, was complaining to Cho, “That was terrible. I felt so frustrated. You’d think it would be easy to turn a match into a needle.” Gemma’s twittering voice entertained the first year girls from up ahead. Ella was beginning to wonder if that girl ever stopped talking. “I absolutely loved Transfiguration!” she was gushing to Chastity Thompson. “I bet I’ll get that spell down next time. I could’ve sworn I saw some silver towards the end. Professor McGonagall must have been so impressed!” Cho and Ella laughed to each other as they watched the tiny head of Gemma bob up and down as she talked.

Roger shook his head. “I’ve never seen such a hyper girl before.”

Cho shrugged and said sweetly, “She certainly makes things lively.”

“I tell you what, I thought Professor McGonagall was going to transfigure her into an insect if she didn’t shut her mouth,” He replied.

“I know, I doubt the professor will ever call on her again,” laughed Ella.  
"The Slytherins seemed a bit aloof," commented Roger when they reached the doors to the Great Hall. "I was partnered with a Sissy Parkinson who looked like she would rather eat dung than sit next to me."  
"They're definitely on the colder side," Cho agreed. "Perhaps it was just the difficulty of the lesson. But they weren't at all like your brother." She said to Ella who was frowning. She was surprised at how cold the Slytherins acted. Ulrich was much warmer. She assumed that most of his house would be like him.  
When they entered the Great Hall, she saw one of the redheaded twins was leaving. She waved at him happily and he smiled. “Short-stack!” He said.

Rolling her eyes sarcastically, Ella smiled. “Well hello to you, too George.”  
The gangly boy smirked mischievously. “Having a good first day?”

She nodded happily. “The Defense Against the Dark Arts professor is wonderful. She had us on the edge of our seats this morning. It was so cool.”

“It was so tense and exciting!” Cho added. “Transfiguration was bland in comparison.”

“Sounds fantastic. Much better than Professor Hayden from last year. He was more on the grim side when teaching. I haven’t met you yet,” He addressed Cho. “I’m George Weasley.” He stuck his hand out to her and they shook. “I’m Cho Chang.”

“Where’s Fred?” Ella asked him.

“Probably at the lunch table. I’m heading up to our common room for a little bit of early planning. We’ve already fallen behind in our agenda for pranking.” He winked at her.

“Oh, well we wouldn’t want to stop you from your business,” said Ella. “Don’t get into too much trouble. I don’t want to have to cover for you again.” George chuckled and headed out the doorway, calling behind him. “No promises from me, Miss Mansfield.”

The girls ate lunch and met up with Nellie afterwards to head to the owlery. A letter was in Ella’s hand for her parents. The letter described the details about the sorting and some of the new friends she had made. On the way up, Nellie told them about History of Magic. Professor Binns taught the class and was a ghost who had died in his sleep at Hogwarts. Apparently he left his body and continued to teach. “I thought I was going to die and walk amongst the dead myself,” She said after describing Professor Binns. “He is exceedingly boring. Not five minutes in the lecture I started to draw doodles of Agnes as a pig to keep me awake.” She grinned wickedly.

“That class sounds horrible. We have it tomorrow,” Ella groaned. “Maybe Cho and I will have more Agnes drawings so we can make a collage."

The girls entered the owlery and Ella found a large barn owl to send her letter. While securing the note to its leg, she glanced over and noticed that Nellie scrawling quickly on some parchment. “Are you writing home as well?” She asked her.

“My folks will want to hear about the train ride and my first day at Hogwarts.” Ella noticed that Nellie was grinning, but the smile didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“Is something wrong?” she asked. At her inquiry, Cho looked up from where she was petting one of the birds.

Biting her lip, Nellie looked as if she were searching for words. “Is this about what happened with the sorting hat?” Ella pursued after a few moments. Nellie started to nod.

“The hat.. Well it had a hard time sorting me.”

“Oh, that’s not too uncommon,” Cho rested a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. “It’s not a big deal.”

“The hat had trouble sorting me, too. It’s okay,” Ella added, but Nellie folded her arms and said, “The problem isn’t that it had a hard time choosing my house.” She stated quietly.

The other two exchanged confused glances. Cho spoke up, “Then what was it? It can’t be that bad. You’re happy with Gryffindor aren’t you?”

“Oh yes, I couldn't be happier,” she replied sincerely. “It’s just.. The hat said.. I was difficult to sort because I’m a mixture of both my parents who were quite opposite. It said it was difficult figuring out between the two house that my parents were sorted into.” Confusion crept into her voice as she continued, “But, how can the hat have sorted my parents, if they’re both muggles?” For the first time, her relaxed demeanor ebbed away.

The girls gaped at her, both of them startled by her words. What did this mean? That Nellie’s parents were secretly wizards? “It could have been a mistake,” Ella said quickly, not quite confident that her words held any truth. “It’s an inanimate object woven with magic after all.” But the look on Nellie’s face was skeptic.

Cho furrowed her brow and hesitated before saying, “If the sorting hat was telling the truth.. Does this mean your parents have been lying to you? That sounds a bit off, especially if they're wizards.”

A grey owl held up its leg to Nellie as she started rolling up the note in her hand. She tied it to the owl and it soared into the sky. “Honestly, I have no idea. It scares me to believe that. My parents are wonderful and I love them.. I can't imagine them lying to me. I hope you’re right Ella. I hope the hat misspoke.”The three stood at the window and watched the owl grow smaller into the sky until it became the tiniest speck against a sea of clouds. “I’ve written to my parents about Hogwarts and about what the hat said. Maybe they’ll clear things up.”

“You could ask the headmaster if the sorting hat was wrong. He might know.” Ella started heading back down and the others followed.

“I don’t know if I want to,” Nellie said sadly. “He might tell me something I don’t want to hear.” She sighed and crossed her arms again. “But it would probably be best.”

“We can go with you,” Cho offered.

“It’s okay. I can ask him when everyone goes to dinner. I don’t have time right now.” Her relaxed vibe came back like a dam holding back the fear she showed moments ago. The girls made it to the bottom of the stairs. “I guess we’re parting again. Sorry for being a bit gloomy just now. This will pass.” She tried to give them a grin.

Ella hugged her friend. “It’s okay. We’re both just glad to know what’s been bothering you.”p

“Thanks so much,” she hugged back. “I hope you guys enjoy your classes. I’ll see you at dinner!” She headed in the opposite direction. Cho and Ella walked back in silence for a while. They made their way out onto the grounds and towards the greenhouses. Ella started wondering what Nellie’s parents would say. She would hate to find out her parents had been lying to her for years. It would be relieving to know it was all just a misunderstanding.  
A gentle nudge came at her side. She glanced over at Cho who was giving her a small smile. “Don’t worry about her,” She said reassuringly. “Nellie is pretty tough.”

“Our first day of Hogwarts has been full of surprises so far,” She replied.

Cho laughed, “No doubt about it. But what can you do? We are at a magic school after all.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took a long time to flesh out. It was difficult to write a new Defense Against the Dark Arts class all while trying to make the Hogwarts you know and love familiar, but with new surprises! Aaaand sorry the chapter ends a bit abruptly but it was getting lengthy. Enjoy!


	4. We All Have Tricks

Light filtered through the filmy windows as Ella headed towards the entrance hall. There was only a half hour left before afternoon classes started and she wanted to spend the time with Nellie, Cho, and Katie out on the grounds. She was passing the Great Hall and when she rounded the corner she spotted bright red hair not 20 paces away. The fiery heads of the Weasley twins were huddled close together in conversation, each holding a handful of dungbombs. One of them saw Ella and lifted his head, “Well, hello there,” He called. The other one turned his head and grinned. “Come to see the fun?”

She got closer to them and looked puzzled. “What fun? Are you just going to make the hall smell? That sounds rather lame,” she teased.

“Not the hall, Filch’s office,” Fred nodded his head towards a door that she had never noticed before.

“Mr. Filch is not one to prank,” Ella warned. “He still talks about the ‘good ole days’ when he could make students sleep outside of the Astronomy tower. In the winter.”

“What’s life without a little risk in it?” He replied as George opened Filch’s door and started tossing his dungbombs into the office. Fred started threw his in as well.

George grinned at Ella and said, “It’s a harmless prank. It keeps our love/hate relationship alive.” He handed her one of his dungbombs. “Live a little.”

“I would if Mr. Filch wasn’t so intimidating.”

Fred chucked his last dungbomb into the office. “He’s practically harmless. It’s his stinking cat you gotta watch out for.” A putrid smell wafted from the office and Ela instantly covered her nose with her free hand.

“We best get out of here before-” George stopped speaking when the three of them saw Filch appear from the other end of the hall. Fred and George turned their backs to him and grabbed Ella by the arms to guide her back with them. “Walk slow and don’t look back.” Muttered George as they walked together. The three of them tried to look as natural as possible as they were walking away. They quickened their pace and almost reached the end of the hall. But the dungbomb smell spread fast. They knew they had about 2 seconds before Filch caught on. They disappeared around the corner and heard Filch cry, “What the devil is that?!” Footsteps pounded the corridor behind them as Filch began pursuit. The three took off not waiting for him to catch up. The boys were faster than Ella with their long legs carrying them ahead. They made a sharp left and five seconds later Ella did the same but only to slam into a dense body.

“OUCH!” cried a gruff voice. Ella was holding her head, her eyes watering from the pain. She shook her head and made out a large body behind the curtain of her hair. She slowly realized who she ran into. Theo Reid, the boy from the robe shop, was glaring at her and getting to his feet. “Watch where you’re going you stupid girl!” She got to her feet, trying to keep her face hidden beneath her curls. It seemed like he didn’t recognize her so she did her best to inch past him nonchalantly. “Wait.. You’re that girl from Diagon Alley.” Ella froze, not daring to turn around. “You crashed into me then, too,” He growled. His meaty hand gripped her shoulder and turned her around. Ella was shocked, but the sound of pounding feet told her Filch was getting close.

“O-oh well here! This is a sorry gift- Isn’t it lovely? Okay, BYE!” She thrusted the dungbomb into his hands and ran in the direction she saw the twins heading. She heard Theo say, “What’s this..?”

She knew she wouldn’t reach the end of the corridor before Filch would see her. As she tried to run faster, Ella caught sight of a broom closet. Scrambling with the handle, she barged in and shut the door and heard Filch’s distant voice yelling, “You set off the dungbombs in my office!” His voice was muffled through the door, but she could still hear Theo’s protests in the hallway. She pressed her ear against the wood and heard Filch say, “I saw the Weasleys, too. Where are those boys?! I know you helped them!” Ella chuckled and slumped to the floor in relief. Theo and Mr. Filch were still arguing, so Ella decided it would be best to stay in the closet until it was clear. After a few minutes, the voices faded away. She was about to open the door when she heard someone approaching the broom closet. Ella started to panic, thinking Theo must have seen her hide in the closet and told on her. A broomstick was knocked over as she tried to scoot to the back of the closet. The doorknob turned and a tall figure opened the closet. She looked up into the face of one of the twins.

“Oh, it’s you,” she breathed. “I thought Filch was going to find me.”

“Don’t worry Short-stack, we weren’t going to leave you behind,” George held out his hand to her and helped her up.

Dust rose in the air when she stood up. “You two ran so fast. And then I knocked into Theo and had no idea where you guys went off to. But I handed him the dungbomb, and I completely threw him under the bus which is no good because I already have bad history with him from that time at the robe shop!” Her mouth was running almost as fast as Gemma Louden’s.

George was laughing. “Sounds like pranking has given you an adrenaline rush,” he smirked and held the door open for her. “You’re fine. Theo and Mr. Filch went back to his office.”

Ella exited the closet and a loud, annoying voice rang through the corridor. “Oh look what we have! Two students sneaking out of a closet?” Peeves the poltergeist materialized out of nowhere and was swimming through the air with a wicked gleam in his beady eyes. “What oh what would you two be doing in there I wonder? Naughty, naughty students!”

George and Ella both groaned. “Cut it out Peeves,” George said.

But Peeves simply floated over their heads and sang,

“Young love, so sweet and innocent!

Young love, so sneaky and secret.

Weasley and Mansfield; wanting their time spent

Snogging and cuddling in the broom closet!”

The two looked and each other and cringed. Suddenly, George brightened and said, “Hey Peeves, Filch’s office is full of dungbomb stench. He’s in a rather poor mood for it. Now would be a golden opportunity to pick on him.”

Peeves face became even more mischievous and he soared over their heads. “Make fun of icky younglings in love or torture the nasty caretaker.” The poltergeist snickered and his body was bouncing with glee. “Maybe Peeves can do both. Bye bye little love birds!” He started floating in the other direction crowing his new love song as he went.

Ella shook her head and was laughing. “He is so irritating. Whenever mischief happens, Peeves is quick to follow. ” Both of their cheeks were pink but soon Peeves was forgotten as they talked about what kind of trouble Theo was in.

“Filch will probably make him scrub the floors in the bathrooms,” said George. “He had me and Fred doing the nastiest jobs last year.”

“And you still prank him?” Ella asked him. “You’ll just have to do all of those chores again.”

George chuckled a little. “Only if we get caught. If we don’t keep pranking we let Filch win. Besides, we’re getting better at avoiding him.”

“Where did Fred go by the way?”

“We were both going to make sure you got away alright once we figured out we’d lost you. When we came back we saw Filch and Theo Reid heading to the office. Fred said he had to find out if Theo was involuntarily taking the wrap for us.”

“That’s so horrible. I can’t believe I ran into him of all people. Do you think Filch will be terribly hard on him?”

“I’m not sure,” George shrugged. “Reid hasn’t ever been that nice so I can’t exactly sympathize.”

“I suppose that’s true.” She conceded. “I still kind of feel bad.”

“If you knew him better you probably wouldn’t care.”

Fred finally appeared at the end of the corridor and had a wide grin on his face like he won the house cup. “Filch gave Reid two weeks detention. He has to spend it helping Snape wash cauldrons.”

“That’s so brilliant! Snape is the worst,” George was grinning.

Ella gasped. “Oh no. Snape. Potions. I’m going to be late for class.” It had just occurred to her that break was over in four minutes and the dungeons were on the other side of the castle.

“Yikes! You don’t want to walk in late to his class,” Fred warned.

“No need to tell me that,” Ella shifted her bag on her shoulders and started running towards the dungeons. “Bye guys!” She called. “See you later!”

“Come prank with us anytime! Good luck getting to class!” George called.

It was hard to believe that only a few weeks had passed since school began and she was going to be tardy for the first time. Her feet thrashed the floor as she raced against the clock. Sweat was forming on her face. It didn’t matter how gross she felt or how much her heart felt like giving out; She did not want to know what would happen if she was late to Professor Snape’s lecture. Of all the classes to be late to! She thought with frustration.

Thursday afternoon classes were with the Gryffindors, and extra attention would be on Ella for arriving after class started which meant Snape would have more reason to be skulking at her desk where Nellie sat. Since their first lesson, it was clear that Professor Snape disliked Gryffindor students he seemed to reserve his most cutting insults for Nellie in particular.

Unfortunately, time was not in favor of Ella and her lungs were burning. She knew she had about 30 seconds to get her butt in her seat, but there were still two more stretches of hallway to cover before she reached the lower dungeon. The stitch in her side became unbearable making her halt. She doubled over and clutched her side, cheeks bright pink. “There’s no way I’m making it in time..” she said out loud to herself. Her breathing was ragged and her side was in terrible pain. 

Echoing footsteps alerted her. She stood up and more sweat beaded on her head for fear that a professor would catch her in the halls when she should be in Potions. To her surprise, it was Professor Matthews. Ella wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or still be worried.

“Shouldn’t you be in class right about now?” Professor Matthews called once she saw her.

The sweat was starting to drip from Ella’s chin. “I should,” Ella told her. “Lost track of time,” She said, embarrassment making her neck grow red.

“I see. Well it happens to the best of us, doesn’t it?” Ella nodded, feeling a bit better. Professor Matthews continued, “I’m headed to Professor Snape’s office to collect a few items. It looked like you were heading that way as well.”

Before she knew what she was saying, Ella said, “I am. Do you think you could escort me to class?” The embarrassment grew and her cheeks felt inflamed. She gulped before adding, “I’m scared of what Professor Snape will do since I’m late and if you’re with me I-”

“Of course I can,” Professor Matthews replied with a warm smile.

Ella straightened out her robes and they started walking together. She tried to brush out her hair with her fingers so it didn’t appear so frizzy. Eventually she glanced at the Professor and said, “Your classes are brilliant by the way. A lot of students love your classes including myself.”

They descended the stairs and Professor Matthews smiled. “I appreciate the compliment. The lessons are important and it makes me happy to see you all coming to my classes eagerly. Each student reflects a small part of the lessons they learn. I hope our time together shapes you all from students to learners.”

“Learners?” Ella furrowed her brow. “What’s the difference?”

“Well a learner is a student who takes the material they’re given and finds ways to apply it to areas of their lives. Or sometimes the lesson inspires certain habits or traits that help a learner improve studying or build good character. A person who only knows how to be a student is a failure on the Professor’s part because that means we didn’t try to engage them. I never want a student to ever feel like I didn’t try to pour into them to some small degree.” There was a soft sadness weighted in her words. The fact that Professor Matthews cared so much about their education was touching to Ella.

“I think that separates you from the other professors. You don’t let us sit there and absorb what you say. You want more for us. That’s pretty selfless.”

Professor Matthews smiled a little and said to herself, “I don’t know about selfless..”

The two finally reached the Potions classroom. Professor Snape’s voice could be heard, “Can you read or do you choose to dismiss instruction? You don’t stir counterclockwise Miss McNabb- No don’t do that, you’re going to spill the contents in your cauldron!” It looked like Nellie was being picked on without Ella’s help. When they arrived through the doorway, Professor Snape looked like he was breathing down Nellie’s neck. Cho and Katie were sitting across the aisle looking hopelessly at the engagement.

Professor Matthews cleared her throat and Professor Snape’s eyes snapped to them. “Ah, Miss Mansfield. You are ten minutes late,” He left Nellie to her grey looking potion. “Lilica, what are you doing here? The contents are in my office.” He said to her quietly when he reached them.

“I know Severus, I was making sure Ella got to her class. She’s late because she was with me. We were discussing something from our lessons.”

Snape’s gaze turned to her and Ella looked at the ground. She hated bad attention from Professors, even ones like Snape. Not knowing what else to do, she muttered a thanks to Professor Matthews and quickly joined Nellie whose potion was starting to smell like rotting cabbage.

“What happened to you?” Nellie asked as she looked at the recipe.

“I’ll tell you later,” Ella was getting out her own cauldron and opened her textbook to the page written on the board. Glancing up she saw that Professor Matthews was still talking. There was a worried look on Snape’s face. Ella didn’t know he was even capable of feeling concern towards anyone. He said something to her and it looked like she was thanking him before departing. When he turned back to the class, his eyes glared at Ella. “Miss Mansfield, I do not believe you are simple but you must be ignorant to think that you can gawk at conversations you are not invited to and still not start on your work even though you are exceedingly late,” His voice was icy and as much as she disliked him, Ella knew he was right. Sighing, she switched her attention back to her textbook. She noticed that Nellie had already gotten ingredients from the students’ cupboard for Ella. “Thanks,” she whispered to her friend as she started heating her cauldron.

Nellie smirked, “It’s good to know I hadn’t gotten extra ingredients for nothing.”

The class time hadn’t passed quickly. Every once in a while, Professor Snape had made his rounds amongst the desks and each time he passed them he would make an effort to call out Nellie’s faults. Being late also caused him to demean Ella’s work as well just as she had predicted. At the end of class, the only students who had been successful at creating the Forgetfulness potion were Cho, Roger Davies, and Chastity Thompson.

“15 points to Ravenclaw for the success,” Snape called as the students were finishing up. “It’s no surprise that none of the Gryffindor students brewed this potion. That house typically shows lackluster performances in my lessons.” The Gryffindors looked up from cleaning their cauldrons and glared at Snape with Katie and Nellie holding extra venom in their eyes. It was completely unfair that he seemed to be out for them. Even some of the Ravenclaws looked uncomfortable at the insult. “For homework each of you must give three paragraphs on the ways to use the Forgetfulness Potions. In addition, with the exception to those who succeeded with their potions, write on parchment the three most crucial ingredients for the Forgetfulness potion and explain why. You are dismissed.”

Ella and Nellie were the last to get their things together. They left the classroom in a hurry and found Cho and Katie waiting for them. “I can’t stand him. He’s so horrible,” Katie said as they started walking. “I mean what is his problem?”

“He’s so severe to you and the other Gryffindor students,” Ella said. “It’s unfair.”

“On top of that, he seems keen on making you miserable in particular,” Cho said to Nellie. “From the first day, Professor Snape has had it out for you.”

“It doesn’t bother me too bad,” shrugged Nellie. “I don’t mind him throwing jabs at me every once in awhile. I just hate how he treats my house as a whole. He’s probably just bitter or something.”

“It could be worse,” Ella started to smirk. “I’d rather have Snape insult me than hear Agnes complain every five seconds.”

The girls giggled and Katie said, “Poor Roger, he has to sit next to her in that class.”

“He looked bloody miserable,” Nellie was grinning. “I can’t believe he was able to withstand her nagging whilst successfully making his potion.”

“By the way, why were you so late today, Ella?” asked Cho. “We missed you at break.”

The others turned their attention to her. “I was wondering that as well,” said Nellie. “You never joined us on the grounds.”

“I had every intention to meet you outside towards the end of break.” The girls ascended the stairs. “I was with the Weasley twins. I got stuck in the middle of one of their pranks.” She started laughing a little and recounted the whole ordeal.

“Ooh, we know what happens in those broom closets,” Katie chortled when Ella told them how George found her. Nellie and Cho chuckled.

“Oh please, it was nothing like that,” laughed Ella. “Anyway, Peeves the poltergeist saw us coming out of the closet. He made a stupid song and everything.” The girls started laughing and Ella’s cheeks went pink, but she thought the encounter was funny, too.

“You know, I’ve heard of Theo Reid,” Cho wrinkled her nose. “He sounds awful.”

“Yeah,” Ella agreed. “I actually met Theo in Diagon Alley. He was just as horrible to me then.” Once again the four hit a crossroads in which they had to split for their next class.

“Do you want to come with us to watch the Quidditch tryouts for Slytherin?” invited Ella. “I want to see if Ulrich makes it.”

Katie shook her head. “I would, but our house sees Slytherins as our number one competitors. If I joined you and anyone on the team finds out, it might stain my chances of making the Gryffindor team.”

“Oh, that’s okay,” said Ella, feeling mildly disappointed. “I can understand that.”

“I’m sorry, Ella. But please tell me how it went! I want to hear if he makes it.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not interested in trying out for our team,” said Nellie. “I will definitely be there.”

“Sounds great! Cho and I will meet you after dinner.”

*

The quill scratched the parchment as Ella finished up the last of her letter. The common room only had a couple of students left in it since everyone was heading to dinner. Cho was drawing a phoenix in her sketchbook and sat in a nearby chair that faced a view looking looking over the Forbidden Forest. Ella set her quill aside and rolled up the parchment. The movement caused Cho to look up from her art. “To the owlery?”

Ella nodded. “And then dinner, and then the Slytherin tryouts.” The two of them headed out of the Ravenclaw door. Every once in awhile Ella would rethink about her message. She was so distracted that she hadn’t realized that Cho was speaking to her.

“W-what?” She asked Cho.

“I said Beatrice is going to the Slytherin tryouts as well to watch her Slytherin friend and invited us to sit with her before she left the common room.”

“Oh, sure that would be fun.”

Cho frowned. “Are you doing okay?”

“I’m fine,” said Ella. “Just a bit upset.” She glanced at the bit of parchment in her hand.

Cho followed her gaze. “Your parents still haven’t written back, have they?”

Ella sighed. “No. I don’t know why. It sort of scares me especially since they were so horrid to each other before school started. Ulrich says he hasn’t heard from home either. I’m probably just bothering them by writing again.”

“I’d like to tell you everything will be fine, but I’m not sure if that’s true.. What I can promise is that you can come to me whenever you’re down if you need to. Ulrich and Nellie would say the same,” Cho assured her. “You’ll get an answer soon. And I hope everything at home is working for your good.”

“I hope so, too.” Ella made a small smile. “You’ve been a good friend. Thanks for being so encouraging.”

“You know I’m always here for you,” Cho looked thoughtful for a moment. “I don’t think Nellie has received a reply from her parents either. She hasn’t mentioned anything about what the sorting hat said to her or if her parents are actually wizards or not. She might need a little comforting, too.”

“Oh Cho, I swear you’re heart is made of gold. You’re always thinking of us first. We should ask her about it at the tryouts.”

After sending off Ella’s letter, the girls had made it to dinner. Ulrich passed by their table before getting ready and they wished him luck. Once finished, they met Nellie in the entrance hall and the three proceeded to the Quidditch pitch.

“I still haven’t received any word from my parents either,” Nellie said after Ella had expressed her disappointment with not hearing from home. “I try not to think about it really. I suppose I’m afraid of what they’ll say.”

“You can still ask Dumbledore about the hat if you’d like,” reminded Cho. “He may even know your parents and could tell you if they went to Hogwarts or not.”

“We can come with you,” Ella offered.

Nellie’s short black hair was just long enough to guard her face so they couldn’t see her expression. After a minute or so Nellie nodded. “Okay. How about if I don’t get a letter in the post tomorrow, I will see him during one of the breaks. Then you both can come with me.”

“Deal!” The girls agreed.

They reached the pitch where a large amount of students were clothed in black and gold. The Hufflepuff tryouts had just ended and the students were leaving. The three girls weaved through the crowd of Hufflepuffs to reach the stadium. Standing by the entrance to stadium seats were three younger Hufflepuff students. One of the boys who was chatting had copper hair and for a moment Ella thought it was Ulrich. This boy and Ulrich certainly looked similar, but Ulrich was a bit taller and had broader shoulders while this boy had a sharper jaw line. The Hufflepuff boy threw his head back to laugh and Ella smiled. His laugh was infectious.

There were a few Slytherin students trickled throughout the stadium. The girls found Beatrice who gestured to them to sit. Her pin straight hair was in a ponytail and she was talking to Cho who chose to sit closest to her. “That’s my friend over there,” she said in her scottish accent. She was pointing to a short and stocky boy with dark hair who was talking to Ulrich.

“Oh I think I know him,” Ella said. “Ryder Cunningham. He’s a second year, right?”

“Yeah, he lives down the road from my house,” Beatrice said. “We’ve been friends since I was eight. I don’t think he’s going to make it, but he has a lot of heart,” She added proudly.

Ulrich caught Ella’s eye and waved up at her. She smiled and gave him a thumbs up. The captain of the Slytherin team came out with his three teammates. The only positions open were keeper and a chaser slot.

“Ryder is trying out for chaser. What’s Ulrich going for?” Beatrice asked.

“I don’t know. I think he just wants to get on no matter what,” Ella replied.

The Slytherin captain started organizing the 20 students who were trying out. Seven were heading to the goal posts to try out as keeper and Ella saw that Ulrich was one of them. The rest of the people were on their brooms and followed one of the Slytherin players into the sky. Ella noticed that the copper haired boy and his friends stayed around to watch.

The captain was on the ground and called, “The potential chasers are going to practice with the quaffle with only two or three of them at a time. Chaser wannabes, when it’s your turn, fly towards the far side and try to aim for the goals. Each keeper will get two tries to defend the post. And potential chasers- don’t worry about being the one in the group to aim for the goal post. This is as much about strategy and maneuvers as it is about aim!” And with that, the first student rose into the air and started circling the goal posts. The captain tossed up the quaffle to start the try outs.

The first couple of keepers were mediocre at best as they tried to guard the posts from oncoming chasers and had either missed or saved easy throws. When the fourth keeper had her turn, she successfully guarded her posts from several groups of chasers with sharp reflexes. The keepers after her, including Ulrich, were successful at guarding their goals as well. After the last successful prevention, the captain called to reorganize. The remaining chasers included Ryder to which Beatrice cheered loudly.

It was down to four keepers. Ulrich just had to beat out the other three. The remaining 8 chasers were split into pairs and each potential keeper had to block the pairs as they came for them. The chasers had an added difficulty of the Slytherin beaters trying to knock them off of their brooms.

Cho and Ella were on the edge of their seats as they nervously watched the first three keepers fending off the chasers. The first keeper successfully saved three goals out of the four attempts. The second had a stroke of bad luck and only saved one goal out of the four. The third girl defending the posts had a little help as the chasers started to tire. One of the beaters had exceptional aim and had knocked three people off of their brooms. In total, the girl had four successful saves. All. Four.

Ella glanced nervously at Ulrich. “He can’t beat her number.”

“Nope, he has to save all four attempts to stay in the running. The only way he can truly beat her is if he pulls something miraculous,” Nellie said.

It was Ulrich’s turn and he soared up to the goals posts, pacing back and forth on his broom. Ella, Nellie, and Cho all cheered on Ulrich. The first pair of chasers had a bad shot and missed completely. The second set, which Ryder was one (“Whoo!! GO RYDER” Beatrice was screeching) had better aim. Ulrich hovered above the goals and waited patiently as the left chaser took aim. Ulrich dived and successfully caught the quaffle. The third pair had a bit more of a strategy as they moved in sync on their brooms. They were good at dodging the bludgers that hurled at them. The chaser on the right faked a throw towards the left post and then threw center when Ulrich had dived for the left post. The Quaffle was speeding through the air and Ella was sure that Ulrich couldn’t save it in time as he swerved. Reaching desperately, he threw his hand out and knocked the quaffle away from the posts.

“YES! GO ULRICH!” Ella shouted while Nellie pumped her fist in the air.

“Cripes, that was close!” Cried Beatrice. Cho was fanning her face and kept repeating. “It’s just tryouts. It’s just tryouts. It’s not a match. He’s not even a Ravenclaw!”

Ulrich shot the girls a nervous grin and took his place back in front of the posts. The last set of chasers took off from the other end of the pitch and were passing the quaffle off to each other in a dizzying manner. It was impressive how quickly they’d exchange the quaffle.

“Quit dancing with your brooms and throw the thing already!” Beatrice called which made Nellie snort. The chasers gotten close to the goal. Ulrich had zeroed in on the chaser with the quaffle getting ready to aim, but in doing so he hadn’t notice the other chaser diving low. The one with the quaffle faked a throw to the left which Ulrich once again dodged towards. The chaser threw the quaffle to the other player who had came round and hovered from above the posts. He caught the quaffle and chucked it towards the middle hoop. Ulrich had switched directions as quick as he could and desperately reached for the quaffle again. The quaffle brushed his fingers as it sailed through the hoop.

The girls were quiet as the chasers high fived each other. “He didn’t save it,” Ella said quietly.

“No..” Nellie affirmed. The girls slowly sunk back to their seats. Ulrich landed on the ground and nervously ran a hand through his copper hair. He didn’t look their way.

“He did really well,” Cho said after a minute.

“Better than Ryder,” Beatrice noted.

The players were all on the ground. The captain had addressed them all and said. “Good job to everyone who came out today. We will discuss and fill the spots. The list will be in the Slytherin common room by this time tomorrow.” The captain finished and the Slytherins dispersed.

Ella’s shoulders sank and Nellie said. “He might still make it. That one girl didn’t make any miraculous catches.”

“That’s true. But he didn’t save as many as she did and that’s what the captain is probably looking for,” Ella replied. The girls stood and headed down to the ground. Ella spotted the Hufflepuff boy not too far off. He was congratulating a Slytherin student who looked to be in the same year. She continued to glance at them until Ulrich’s voice snapped her out of it, “What did you think?”

He was red in the cheeks but grinning widely. “I know I didn’t catch them all, but I still had a good go.”

“You were definitely as good as the one girl,” Ella said giving her brother a high five.

Beatrice had left them to congratulate Ryder who was also red faced and Cho and Nellie congratulated Ulrich and headed back to the castle to start on homework. Deciding she wanted to talk to Ulrich, Ella stayed back with him. There were a lot more Slytherin students here than the amount of Hufflepuff students who had shown up. “This was quite the turnout,” Ella commented.

Ulrich nodded and he started leading her towards the changing rooms. “I know, a lot of people who tried out were second and first years. Thanks for coming out to support me though. I appreciate it a ton.”

He wrapped his arm around Ella. “How are classes going, sis?”

“I like them all. School is wonderful.” She smiled. “It’s better than I hoped.” They got to the boys locker rooms and stopped outside of it.

“I’m glad to hear that,” Ulrich said, smiling. “You look much happier here. And since we’ve been here, you haven’t had a single outburst from your anxiety.”

“Not a single incident has happened, it makes me feel like I’m normal. And you’re right, I am happy here.” Ella fiddled with her fingers a little and looked at the ground for a moment. “But, I’m worried about home. I wrote a letter to mum and dad when classes started and I haven’t heard anything back.” She glanced back up at him. “Do you think.. That everything’s okay?”

He ran a hand through his hair again, looking weary. “I’m not sure. I haven’t written to them or received any news. They were acting so disgusting towards each other that I’ve tried to forget about them to be honest.”

They were quiet for a few moments. Ella felt disappointed, but she wasn’t surprised at what he had said. He placed a hand on her shoulder. “You’ll hear from them soon. I’ll write to Sebastian in the morning if nothing comes in the post,” He promised. Ella nodded, smiling weakly. He hugged her. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Ella.”

“See you,” she replied as he left for the locker rooms. She started wandering back to the castle, taking her time. Laughter rang in the entrance hall when she got there and she saw the same group of Hufflepuff students who had watched the Slytherin tryouts. The one boy who looked like Ulrich was with them and they were talking excitedly about who was going to make their team. Even though Ella was by herself, she was happy to see other students were finding Hogwarts as a place to call home like she was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was so much fun to write! I know it was rather lengthy, but so much ground needed covering! I'm also trying to add some artwork of Ella, Cho, and Nellie! I added my art of Ella to this chapter. Hope you all like it!


	5. Pricking Problems

Hands were reaching to owls as the mail arrived at breakfast the next morning. Ella glanced nervously up searching for any owls that might carry a reply to her letters. They kept soaring overhead and Ella was beginning to lose faith until a small, plucky snow owl landed in front of her and hold out its leg. The owl screeched as she quickly grabbed for the letter. She tore it open and felt her heart drop a little when the writing did not match her mother’s.

   “This is from Sebastian.” She said to herself. Why would her eldest brother write to her? As much as she loved him, she really wanted to hear from her mother. She tucked a sickle in the owl’s pouch before scanning her brother’s message.

    Ella,

    How are you? Work is boring so there’s not much to tell there. But, I can say that I miss you, Squirrel (This was his nickname for Ella). Last week I visited mum and dad. I’ll be honest, they are in a rough place right now. I saw your letter opened on the counter. I asked mum if either of them had written back and she said she hadn’t had time to reply so I figured I could update you instead.

    Please don’t feel bad about this. They’re quarrelling so much that they aren’t quite thinking about anything else except for what to do in the next step of their marriage. You might not hear from them for a while. But, try not to let their problems distract you from school.

    I thought I’d let you know that mum is ecstatic that you’re in Ravenclaw. She couldn’t stop talking about it. I’m proud of you as well. You’re plenty talented and Ravenclaw is lucky to have such a bright student. I want to hear all about your classes, okay? You can write to me anytime, and I will do my best to update you about life at home when you don’t hear from our parents.

    You and Ulrich are missed. Stay out of trouble, kid. Love you.

    Sebastian

It was more difficult to read the letter as she got to the end because her hands were shaking so badly. It wasn’t exactly news to Ella that her parents were in a bad place--but they couldn’t even write her back? They were too busy quarrelling? The days spent in her room to prevent her magical outbursts and to hide from her parents arose in her mind. Perhaps her father did want to divorce because of how out of control Ella’s magic had been and that’s what they argue about.

Roger Davies, who was besides her, let out a yelp that startled Ella out of her thoughts. She was alarmed to see that the dishes in front of them were rising into the air. She knew what was happening all too well and grabbed her bag to make a break for the exit of the Great Hall.

“Ella?” Cho called across from the table, her face etched with worry as the plates began to hum.  Ella didn’t respond. She felt her limbs moving for her as she stepped away from the table. The dishes came back down with a clang and it felt like every head was turning their way.  

Rushing out of the Great Hall, Ella didn’t dare look at anyone with her heart pounding in her chest. Her mind wasn’t focused and she didn’t know where her body was taking her. She just didn’t want to be seen right now. She wandered the corridor, trying to stop her mind from reeling. Would her parents finally end things? What would happen to her and Ulrich if their parents did split? Was it her fault? If so, would Danny grow up to despise her because of it?

There were too many thoughts crowding in her head. She paused by a staircase and sat down for a moment, pressing her face into her knees. She felt the anxiety inside threatening to consume her. Maybe Ulrich was the smart one by forgetting about home. Maybe it had been a mistake to write to her parents.

    Someone walked down the steps and stopped behind her. “Are you okay?”

Ella turned and looked up to see the Hufflepuff boy from the Quidditch pitch. He was a bit taller up close and Ella noticed he had a few pale freckles on his face. His question took a moment for her to register and she finally responded, “I’m alright. I’m just stressed out.”

His grey eyes examined her and he walked down the steps to be level so they were at eye level. “We’re not even a month into school. Are you stressed because you have a ton of homework already?”

“No it’s not that.” Her hands tightened around Sebastian’s message.

His eyes shifted to the letter and he said, “Bad news?”

“Pretty much,” she replied quietly

The boy sat down beside her and said, “If you vent, you’ll feel better. We still have twenty minutes before class starts if you need someone to listen,” he added.

She looked up at the ceiling and, not knowing what else to do, launched into a small cut version of her life story in which she described the fear for her parents marriage and the signs showing that her emotions seem to trigger her magic if unchecked. He had nodded patiently every once in awhile as she talked. After she was done, she felt her cheeks grow warm because his face became unreadable. “I’m sorry,” she said after a moment. “I didn’t mean to throw all of this on you.”

The boy smiled kindly. “Don’t worry about it. Everyone needs to vent sometimes.”

She returned a small smile when she looked at him and said. “Thanks for listening, I appreciate it.”

He had a lopsided grin that made his handsome face look more childish, but Ella liked it. “No problem. I wasn’t up to anything important anyway. I’m Cedric by the way.” He held up his hand.

“My name’s Ella,” she took it and felt a flutter in her chest when she shook his hand.

“Well Ella classes are starting soon, and mine is a bit far so I’m going to have to leave. But, I do hope you hear good news from home and that your day goes better.” He smiled and waved at her before leaving.

Ella watched him leave, the smile on herself growing bigger. “Cedric..” she said quietly. She retrieved her bag and started walking to Professor McGonagall’s class. The thoughts of home were still heavily on her mind, but they now mixed with images of copper hair and a handsome face.

Transfiguration was starting when she arrived. Cho was trying to get her attention, but Ella avoided her gaze, picking a seat with Chastity Thompson who Ella knew to be sweet and rather quiet. Professor McGonagall was having the Ravenclaws and Slytherins practice transfiguring matches into needles again. For Ella, the time was passing slowly as she failed to turn her match into a needle. More students were able to completely transfigure their matches as the end of class was approaching.

Chastity had mastered the spell last class and Ella’s mind was having trouble concentrating on the work in front of her, making her feel embarrassed as she practiced in front of Chastity. She made several failed attempts but was struggling to get the spell right. Each time she thought she was concentrating well enough, memories of her parents would come to mind and Ella would fail.

There were about six minutes left of class and Ella was well aware that everyone else in the room had either mastered the spell or were nearly there. In her current attempt, the match was in a needle shape but still wasn’t silver.

“It’s okay, Ella,” Chastity was saying kindly. “You’re going to get it.”

There were snickers coming from behind them and Ella realized the two Slytherins, Sissy Parkinson and Milo Hardy were watching her. She glanced back and saw Sissy whispering to Milo, her raven colored hair flipping about as she would look from Ella and back to Milo.

“I can’t do this with those two ogling at me,” Ella gritted her teeth.

“Don’t worry about them, they don’t matter right now. Concentrate on the match,” Chastity encouraged. Ella tried to take a deep breath, but the giggling behind her was growing louder.

Sissy’s voice had carried over to their table as she said, “She should stop shaking so much, I think my desk’s rattling.”

Ella’s eyes flashed open and she turned to glare at the two who were smirking deviously at her. “I think you should get your noses checked out by Madam Pomfrey. They seem so large that you can’t help stick them in everybody’s business. ” She snapped at them.

Sissy lifted a perfectly shaped eyebrow and said, “Maybe you should get checked out in the hospital wing. Your attempts at a simple spell show you aren’t functioning properly.” Milo was chortling. Sissy’s hazel eyes looked Ella up and down. “Aren’t you Ulrich Mansfield’s sister? Funny.. you would think a talented wizard like him wouldn’t have such a weak sister like you. We’ve all caught on ages ago,” she sneered.

Seething, Ella’s mouth opened to speak but all of the sudden the Chastity’s needle lifted and was pointing at Sissy threateningly. “Er.. Ella,” Chastity’s voice quivered.

The anger was mixing with the anxiety and Ella tried to get a grip. Chastity inhaled sharply as the needle zoomed immediately towards the Slytherins. Without thinking, Ella reached desperately and was able to snatch it in time, stabbing herself in the process. “OUCH!” she yelped.

Professor McGonagall’s voice cracked like a whip, “Miss Mansfield! What on earth is going on?”

There was a sharp pang in Ella’s hand and she bit her tongue as she pulled the needle out. There was a thin trail of blood coming from her palm. “Nothing, Professor.” For the second time that day, everyone in the room was looking her way. “Just hurt my hand.”

“Well, we are at the end of the lesson anyway. You all may leave, you all did well with your transfiguration lesson today,” she addressed to the class. She turned her gaze to Ella, “Come up to the desk, I want to see how seriously you hurt yourself.”

Sissy and Milo gave her cold glares before they left. Chastity squeezed Ella’s shoulder gently and Ella gave her a sheepish smile. She watched Chastity leave with everyone else. Ella could see Cho staring at her from the corner of the eye but she still didn’t look her way. She cautiously approached McGonagall’s desk and heard the last echoing footsteps of Cho leave signaling that she was alone with Professor McGonagall. The professor looked up with her lips pressed together in a thin line. “Let me see your hand, Miss Mansfield.”

She held out her palm and McGonagall searched it carefully, looking at the prick. “What happened here?”

Ella hesitated, “I.. er.. Pricked myself with the needle.”

Professor McGonagall looked up at her and frowned. “How did you manage to do that? This lesson does not require physical contact with our objects.”

“It was falling off the desk,” Ella said quickly. “I tried to catch it and stabbed myself in the process.”

Professor McGonagall fixed her with a skeptic scare. “If you say so.. In the future, please exercise caution. I don’t want any serious injuries.”

“Yes, Professor,” She turned and grabbed her bag. She felt sweat trickled down the side of her face. Her emotions were getting out of hand. She knew that the needle was going to prick Sissy Parkinson, and the thought of hurting another student filled Ella with fear.

Her chest felt tight with anxiety. The incident with Sissy added to the weight of her worries. She walked alone down the corridor and her shoulders slumped. Thinking about future classes, Ella wondered if it would even be a good idea for her to be there if it meant risking the safety of other students.

    

Both Nellie and Cho found her in the library later that afternoon. Ella had been avoiding everyone and during her classes, made sure to sit with the other first years so as to avoid Cho. She didn’t want to cause more trouble or cause Cho to worry about her. Ella’s  quill was running across the parchment, finishing up an essay for History of Magic. Her nose was stuck deep in her textbooks when she heard Nellie clear her throat.

    “Let’s talk.”

Ella scrunched her brows and didn’t look up from her parchment.

“You’ve avoided me all day. I know it has something to do with that letter from this morning,” said Cho whose arms were crossed.

“Cho told me what happened in Transfiguration.” She pulled out the chair besides Ella and plopped down. “Tell us what’s up.”

Cho leaned against the table and they both waited. Ella stubbornly continued to work on her essay, not answering them. They waited for a few minutes before Nellie finally said, “We’re not leaving. You’re not getting out of this easily.”

Ella gave an exasperated sigh and finally gave in. She told them all about her emotional use of magic just as she had told Cedric earlier. Cho began to look concerned while Nellie was harder to read. She soon finished and the two exchanged looks.

After a bit Cho turned to her and said, “Are you going to be okay?”

“I’m not sure. I guess when it comes to the problems at home, I have a harder time controlling my anxiety.” She said. “Right now I feel like the best solution would be to suppress my magic when I think about home. That makes the most sense to me.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” said Cho.

“You’re just avoiding the problem. Pretending it doesn’t exist won’t make your anxiety go away,” said Nellie. “Yes, today there was an incident,” she continued when she saw Ella open her mouth to protest. “But there must be a way for you to figure this out. Why don’t you ask Professor Dumbledore? I’m seeing him before dinner tonight since I still haven’t heard from home.” Ella looked at the parchment for a moment, thinking.

Cho smiled, “If he can’t put in time to help you, perhaps one of the other professors could help you. This way, you don’t have to have the weight of your worries at the back of your mind.”

“Either way, we’re not going to let you sulk and mull it over on your own. We’ll get through this together,” Nellie promised.

Ella grinned a little and went back to writing her essay, “Well if you both are going to be bossy about it, I guess I have no choice.”

The three of them worked on homework in the library until dinner about started. They walked up to the third floor towards the Headmaster’s office planning out what they would say. They reached the hall to his office and found a gargoyle blocking the path. “Oh.. Looks like we need a password,” Cho said disappointedly.

“But we really need to see him. It would be great if it was ‘quidditch’ or ‘acid pops’” Ella said sarcastically. Suddenly the gargoyle came to life and jumped aside to clear the path for the girls.

Nellie looked incredulously at the gargoyle. “‘Acid pops?’”

Cho was giggling a little. “‘Acid pops.’ Perhaps Professor Dumbledore wants his passwords to be easily guessed by students.” They headed onto the spiraling staircase up to Dumbledore’s office. Nellie was leading the way and approached a large oak door with a large brass handle. When Nellie lifted her hand to knock, the sound of a female’s voice came from behind the door. The three looked at each other and leaned in close.

Through the wood they could hear the sound of the American accent from Professor Matthews talking rather rapidly. The girls glanced at each other and listened intently.

“I’m not sure if it’s working,” she was saying. “Professor Snape says it is, but I am not as certain. I don’t know what will happen at this point.”

“If Professor Snape says it’s working, then we must trust him. He knows exactly what he’s doing and he’s worked hard and has been taking special care. Have confidence in us, Lilica.”

Cho looked uncomfortable and mouthed, “Let’s knock.”

Nellie didn’t look like she was going to, but after a couple seconds she conceded and knocked on the door.

The discussion ceased and Professor Dumbledore called, “Come in.”

Nellie pushed open the door and the three of them walked in, looking in amazement at the circular room which was full of silver instruments and humming noises. Professor Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk, measuring the three of them behind his half moon spectacles whilst Professor Matthews looked at them in surprise. Dumbledore turned to Professor Matthews and said, “We can discuss this more after I talk to these three. Do you mind waiting?”

“Of course not Headmaster,” She bowed her head slightly and stepped back for the girls.

He waved them over, and the three hesitantly approached him. “Now, how can I help you?” He peered at them down his long, crooked nose.

“Well,” Nellie spoke up first. “I just had some questions about the sorting hat.”

“Ask away Miss McNabb,” He smiled gently.

Nellie looked amazed that he knew her name. “You see, when I was being sorted the hat said some things that were strange. Things that couldn’t be true. And I was wondering if the sorting hat ever lies?”

“Ah, I see. Well the sorting hat is an old object that was woven with incredible magic long ago. It is designed to read the witch or wizard whose head it is placed on, along with certain other qualities,” His eyes twinkled a bit. “That is why it is able to place people in certain houses. And since it is an object woven with magic, it does not have any reason to lie. Would it have the potential to? Perhaps in certain instances. But if the hat said something to you, I would accept it as truth.”

Nellie’s face looked weary at his words. Professor Dumbledore asked, “What did the hat say to you, Miss McNabb, to make you believe that it has lied?”

“It..” Her eyes wandered to where the frayed hat was sitting. It looked dirtier and older in the shadows. “It told me that it was hard to place me in a house because I have opposing characteristics of my parents. It continued to say that they were equally difficult to sort.” She returned her gaze to the piercing blue ones looking at her encouragingly. “But the hat has to be lying. My parents were never sorted because they’re muggles. Unless,” her voice faltered. “Well, unless they are the ones lying. But that can’t be, can it?”

Professor Dumbledore twined his fingers together and looked at Nellie thoughtfully. After a moment he calmly responded, “It could be that the sorting hat is lying. In the original design of the hat, I doubt the creators ever considered the possibility of an inanimate object lying to students. Especially when it would gain no motives since the hat sits in the Headmaster’s office for most of the year. And I don’t believe your parents would lie to you. Perhaps..” he paused for a moment, taking the time to choose his words carefully. “Perhaps, Miss McNabb, you’re parents and the sorting hat are not lying.” Everyone looked at him confusedly, trying to process what he was saying.

“I don’t understand,” she finally said.

Professor Dumbledore’s eyes held a bit of sadness in them. “Unfortunately I can’t make much light of your situation. All I can say is that your parents wouldn’t lie to you and the sorting hat possesses no need to give false information.”

Nellie’s mouth had hung open dumbfoundedly. Why was the professor speaking in riddles? “In the future I think we can discuss the sorting hat more. But for now, it is best to focus on your studies,” Professor Dumbledore said.

Nellie was looking incredulously at Dumbledore with a mixture of anger and confusion in her face. Seeing that Dumbledore was not going to tell her anymore, she turned her back on him and left the office. Cho and Ella looked at each other. “You better go after her Miss Chang,” Professor Dumbledore said. “Try to calm her and support her the best you can.”

Cho didn’t look back at him and only gave him a nod before she left the office, closing the door much behind her gently. Ella felt confused and suddenly felt like her problems were much more miniscule compared to Nellie’s. She looked up at Dumbledore who said, “It seems that you have something else you would like to discuss with me. Professor McGonagall told me about the incident that happened in her class today,” He said quietly. “Is your hand alright?”

“It was an accident.” She started to talk about her anxiety and how it triggered the magic. Professor Dumbledore gazed at her with new interest.

“I know what you are going through Miss Mansfield,” He said. “You are not the first student to struggle with magic that can be sensitive to emotions.”

Ella started to pull at her sleeve uncomfortably before saying, “I don’t want anymore incidents to happen or to risk hurting other students.”

“No,” he agreed. “And that is why I presume you are here?”

“Yes, sir. I wanted to know if you could help me control my emotions a bit better, ” her voice became quiet.

“Well, I am not the one who can best help you,” he said. Ella’s heart sank a little. “But Professor Matthews here would be an excellent mentor.”

Professor Matthews looked back at Ella with a smile. “I know a thing or two about emotional control when it comes to magic. Would you like to take private lessons from me?” She asked kindly.

Ella brightened at the thought of working with the passionate professor and said, “Oh yes, please! It would mean the world if you could help me.”

Professor Dumbledore beamed and clapped his hands together. “Perfect! You two can discuss details later. If that is all you wanted to discuss Miss Mansfield, I think it best that you go and help Miss Chang comfort Miss McNabb at this time. While she may not understand her situation, it is best for her friends to be there for her.”

His words caused more confusion in Ella. What exactly was Nellie’s situation? Ella wanted to ask more but instead said, “Yes, sir. And thank you both.” Despite Dumbledore’s vagueness with her friend, Ella couldn’t help but smile as she exited the Headmaster’s office. She was getting help. Professor Matthews wanted to help her. She could be fixed!

Racing down the staircase, Ella felt much lighter about facing her anxiety problem. The gargoyle jumped aside to let her pass and the smile disappeared from Ella’s face as she saw Nellie was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, her expression hard. Cho was rubbing her back and comforting her the best she could.

“I know that this is confusing,” Cho was saying. “But I’m here for you. We can talk anytime.” She looked at Ella as she approached. “What did Professor Dumbledore say about your problem?”

“Professor Matthews is going to work with me on controlling my magic,” she said, trying to keep the swelling hope out of her voice for Nellie’s sake.

A small smile appeared on Cho’s face. “That’s good of Professor Matthews. She’s an excellent mentor. I’m sure she’ll be a huge help.”

“Are you okay though?” Ella asked Nellie. “That wasn’t what any of us were expecting to hear.. Cho and I are here for you in any way.”

Nellie looked up at the ceiling, her arms folding. “ I don’t understand any of this,” she said in frustration. “What is he playing at? He gives you a cut and dry answer but tosses riddles in my face. Both are telling the truth? What kind of nonsense is that?” She spat the words.

“We’re going to help you through this,” Cho promised, hugging Nellie.

She didn’t hug back, but her gaze softened. “I’m sorry. I just feel like I left with more questions.”

“It’s okay, he wasn’t being clear at all,” said Ella.

“I’m glad Professor Matthews is helping you,” Nellie looked at Ella again. “We’ll get through our issues together, one way or another.” She smirked a little. “Enough emotional garbage, let’s go get dinner. I’m starving.”


	6. That’s Not How It Works

  
The air was starting to become cooler as September was ending and Autumn was around the corner. Although Professor Dumbledore left Nellie confused after the discussion in his office, it was clear that she was not going to overthink it. She remained determined to figure out what he had meant without losing her sanity and often relied on Ella for guidance. But, as the term entered October, it was clear she was having a harder time hiding her frustration.

On the other hand, the advice that Ella had received from Dumbledore had been relieving. Her private lessons with Professor Matthews were starting this next week. They had agreed to meet in the evenings on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Despite the confusion Professor Dumbledore caused Nellie, Ella couldn’t help but be grateful for his help in regards to her anxiety issues. She did her best to hide her eagerness for Professor Matthews lessons whenever Nellie became frustrated as she mulled Dumbledore’s words in their freetime.

It was a sunny, Sunday afternoon and luckily the weather wasn’t cold enough to keep them inside. Ella, Nellie, and Cho decided to stroll the grounds along with the company of their friend, Katie Bell. Nellie was discussing the conversation in Dumbledore’s office again, but to their surprise she also mentioned she at last received letters from home. Ella was scanning over the one from her parents.

“You’re right Nellie,” Ella said, handing back the note. “They don’t even hint or imply about your questions asking if they’re secretly wizards or not. It’s as if you didn’t bring it up.”

“I know,” Nellie tried to sound calm but there was still an edge to her voice. “And their tone is so.. Innocent. How can they do this to me? Completely ignore my questions and pretend I’m not accusing them. They’re as bad as Dumbledore!”

Guilt bloomed in Ella as she once again couldn’t help think of how differently he handled their situations. Katie who was on the other side of her was reading a different letter of Nellie’s. “I’m surprised they told your Uncle about you being a witch,” she said, looking over the message carefully. “Most muggle families don’t share that information with relatives. But it looks like he’s proud of you, that’s for sure. He’s sounds like he’s that uncle everyone wants.”

“He is pretty great- I love him to death and he gets on pretty well with my family. I’m not that surprised they told him to be honest. My dad wouldn’t keep secrets from his brother.” Nellie’s face darkened a little. “But they can keep secrets from their own kid.”

“There must be a reason that they’re avoiding the topic,” said Cho. “Maybe you should write again.”

“Maybe,” Nellie’s demeanor relaxed slightly.

They walked towards the quidditch pitch where the Gryffindor team was practicing. As they got closer, Ella saw red hair glint in the sunlight and for a moment thought it was one of the twins. But she realized this person was much older and had a stockier build which was quite different from Fred and George.

Nellie noticed Ella staring at him and said, “That’s Charlie Weasley, Fred and George’s brother. He’s the Quidditch captain.”

“He’s not like the twins,” Katie said. “At least not as loud and outgoing. But, he’s pretty cool.”

They stood by one of the stadiums and started watching the Gryffindor team soar across the field. Ella saw one of the twins with a club in his hand, aiming a bludger at a darker skinned girl zooming with the quaffle towards the goal post. The other twin on the other side of her, waiting to rebound the bludger. She felt her mouth open a little. “They’re both beaters.”

“They would be, those two are practically bludgers themselves,” said Nellie. “Definitely the perfect position for a couple of mischievous jokesters.”

“Katie, didn't you say that you wanted to be on the team?” Asked Ella.

“Yes, and I did try out,” she said sadly. “I didn’t make it. But, Oliver Wood is the keeper and is lined up for team Captain next year because it’s Charlie’s last year. When Charlie leaves, Oliver said I flew quite well and had good chances to be a future addition. One player named Jensyn Stahl is also leaving next year which will leave a Chaser spot open,” she smiled.

“What did you try out for this year?” Cho asked.

“Beater,” said Katie. “I knew I wouldn’t make it. I mean, I’m pretty sure Fred and George were just the perfect duo for those positions.”

“Did Ulrich make the team by the way? I totally forgot to ask,” she continued.

“He did! He’s the new keeper,” Ella frowned slightly. “Although I thought it was weird he beat out the competition seeing as that Slytherin girl at try outs made all of her saves.”

“I thought that was sort of strange, too,” commented Nellie.

“It could have been the fact that he made that one real good save. That might have been more impressive,” Cho added.

“Maybe,” Ella said, not completely convinced.

They continued to watch the practice, all of the players making impressive moves and working on team maneuvers. Ella was quite impressed. Over the summer she would practice with Ulrich, but he never taught her any fancy tricks like these players seemed to know. The twins and the keeper in particular seemed to be the most in their element. Although she noticed that Fred and George were the hardest for Charlie to seem to control.

The practice soon ended and the team touched back to the ground, the younger players had grins plastered to their faces. The keeper, who Katie said was Oliver, was chatting away to Charlie who seemed to nod politely and only nodding or grunting in response to Oliver’s suggestions. Nellie and Katie joined the dark skinned girl and her friend whom Ella recognized as the Weasley’s friend, Alicia Spinnet. Katie was complimenting the one girl, asking her about some flying techniques. Ella and Cho waited a few paces away when Ella heard one of the twins calling to her.

“Hi guys,” she waved at them as they walked towards her and Cho, clubs resting on their shoulders.

One of them grinned and said, “Checking out Ravenclaw’s competition?”

“Competition? I don’t know if I’d call you that,” Ella teased.

“Come off it, we had a great practice. Fred and I are the reasons Gryffindor will win the quidditch cup,” said George. The whole team started heading to the locker room whilst Ella and Cho walked with the twins.

“You did fly well. You two seem to be naturals,” she said.

“Do go on,” Fred said, grinning widely. “Who might you be? A friend of Ella’s I presume?”

“I’m Cho. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Funny that you’re friends with Shorty. You seem much sweeter than this troublemaker.” The twins both shot devious looks at Ella.

“I pulled one prank with you. On accident. I hardly think that counts me as a troublemaker,” she smirked.

“One?” George said in a hurt voice. “Are you forgetting the time at the robe shop?”

“No, because I don’t see that as me in on a prank. That was you finding a cover for a one you pulled.” Cho started to giggle as George raised his eyebrows.

“You played a key role,” he said.

Fred chuckled. “Two pranks on the same person lead to a path of no return, Miss Ella.”

She shook her head and gave up trying to fight their logic. The boys started to ask Cho and Ella questions about Ravenclaw and what their classes have been like. They all finally reached the quidditch dressing areas and said goodbye to the twins before rejoining Nellie and Katie.

“You get on quite well with the twins,” said Katie, smiling. “Been found in anymore broom closets?”

“Oh, please,” Ella laughed. “No, but I see them in the hallways in passing. They’re both funny.” They headed up towards the castle, the sunset casting rays citrus like shades of magenta and amber. As they went along, they talked about the Gryffindor quidditch team and how good the female chasers were.

Entering the castle, they were passing the Great Hall and Ella caught a glimpse of Cedric who was leaving with one of his friends. She waved at him and he smiled at her, a carefree look in his eyes. This had been the extent of their relationship: waving and smiling. Ella didn’t mind too much, but every time she saw him in the corridors she had a strong urge to say something to him. One of these days, she would make sure to have a conversation with him.

*

“Fumos!” Ella cried and smoke billowed from her wand tip. She coughed a little as she inhaled some of the smoke. Agnes was across from her and was hacking as well in a more overdramatic manner.

“I don’t think.. your hand.. movement.. was correct,” Agnes said between coughs. The smoke was a faint, reddish color. It had a pungent odor which was not meant to happen according to their textbooks. Agnes was waving the red smoke away. After her coughing died she had a hard expression and her hands were on her hips. “The book says a circular movement.”

“That was circular!” Around them, the other students were practicing the charm and not doing too well at their attempts. Professor Matthews strode amongst the pairs of students she picked and correcting anything she saw was flawed. Ella was not too pleased that Agnes had ended up being her partner, for she was a bit bossy when giving instructions.

“Circles don’t have corners,” said Agnes with her sharply angled nose high in the air. Or at least Ella assumed it was raised high because she could see up Agnes’ nostrils. “If you do the correct movement, the book says you’ll produce the yellow, and odorless smokescreen. Again!” Her high pitched voice was grating on Ella’s nerves.

She raised her wand again and attempted to wave it correctly. “Fumos!” She shouted again. This time the odor was gone when the smoke came, but it made a loud hissing noise and was a darker shade of red. The smoke disappeared quickly as Professor Matthews had made her way over and cleared the smoke.

“You didn’t time it right that go,” Agnes whined.

Ella tried not to roll her eyes. Professor Matthews spoke up and said, “She’s right Ella.” Behind the professor’s back Agnes beamed. “Make sure you don’t wait until the very end of your wrist movement to say the incantation.”

Her eyes widened when they heard a loud BOOM and she rushed over to where Gemma Louden had just attempted the charm again but her smoke had a black, sinister look that dampened the robes of Gemma’s partner as it spread.

“One more time, Mansfield,” said Agnes in a bossy tone. “Think about it this time and try to think about the timing before you just shout and flounder your wand all willy nilly.”

“Fine.” Ella tried to breathe in deeply. She thought about the incantation and tried to ignore the presence of her partner which was becoming hard to do as Agnes tapped her foot on the ground impatiently. Once more Ella raised her arm and pointed her wand at Agnes, creating the circular motion and said, “Fumos!” To her surprise, yellow smoke fumed from the tip of her wand and filled the air which started to block her view of Agnes.

“Nice one,” Roger said from the left of Agnes. He was partnered with Katie who had created a yellow, gooey looking substance when she tried the charm. She held the oozing wand away from her face with a look of disgust. Roger grimaced slightly. “Oh.. bad luck, Katie.” She shot a look at him.

Agnes was waving the smoke out of her face, coughing again. “I swear this spell is going to give me asthma.”

“That’s not how asthma works,” muttered Ella.

“Okay, well we both are able to use fumos as an incantation,” Agnes continued. “It’s about time, too. I was starting to think you were never going to catch on.”

Gritting her teeth, Ella tried to prevent herself from responding as she knew it would lead to an ugly argument. The goal of this class was to successfully cast fumos and to get through without strangling her partner. The class was coming to an end, and half of the class still had not succeeded. Professor Matthews stood at the front of the class and asked for their attention.

“That was very good work today, especially for performing fumos for the first time. We will pick this up again next class. Make sure to practice and remember that this spell is not only a basic incantation, but it is a necessity when it comes to dueling. A smokescreen is a great way to retreat or to divert your confuse your opponent. Have a great day!” The students dispersed and started to gather their things. Ella grabbed her bag and walked over to Professor Matthews who smiled at her. “Are you ready for tonight?”

“I’m really looking forward to it. I’ve been ready to have control for a while now. I just need to know where and when.”

“Excellent! I think it will go very well. We can meet in here before dinner and start right away.”

“Okay, I will see you then!” She said goodbye to Professor Matthews and found Cho waiting for her outside. “It’s all settled, we start tonight!”

“That’ll be fun,” said Cho as they walked. “I’m sure you’ll learn loads with her.”

“Yes, it’ll be nice to feel like I’m in control.”

The rest of the day had not been too eventful. Up in the Ravenclaw tower, Ella was working with Cho and Chastity on homework. Chastity was incredibly smart; she remembered the notes almost perfectly. She was helping them write down what Professor Binns had discussed in their History of Magic so they could finish their essays. Ella was extremely grateful for this as she found the class so boring she could only stay awake by drawing. She had a sketchbook full of drawings from that class with today’s sketches mostly consisting of Agnes as a pig with her ears being talked off by Gemma. A smirk was forming on Ella’s face as she thought about showing them to Nellie.

They were finishing up their essays when Ella realized the time. “I have to go to my meeting with Professor Matthews,” She put her ink and quills away. “Thanks so much for the help, Chastity.”

Chastity shook her head, flashing a bright smile against her dark skin, “It was no problem! We should do this again sometime. We’ll swap help: practicing Defense Against the Dark Arts homework in exchange for helping with History of Magic essays.”

“Sounds perfect to me,” Ella slung her bag over her shoulders. “I’ll see you guys at dinner!”

The windows were showing the sky turning a deep navy as night time was approaching. She headed down the corridors, seeing some students in passing. She saw copper hair appear down the corridor and felt a smile grow on her face when she saw Cedric walking towards her. He was busy talking to one of his friends and smiled at Ella when he passed. She opened her mouth to say, “Hi,” but it felt like her voice was lost. Instead, her mouth was left hanging open at Cedric as he was passing. He was chuckling a little, slightly confused at the silly look on her face but waved goodbye to her before continuing on with his friend. Her mouth shut with a jerk and she cringed in embarrassment. Why did she have to look like an idiot in front of him? Why couldn’t she just say hi? They’ve talked before! It shouldn’t have been that difficult to strike a new conversation.

Replaying the scene over in her mind, she tried to sort what went wrong between her brain and her mouth. Anything would have been better than going slackjaw. She was so distracted that she almost missed the faint noise from up ahead. A loud explosion brought broke through her thoughts and she rushed ahead to find the source. In one of the classrooms she found the twins setanding by a desk, faces smeared in blue liquid with their hair spiked back from the blast. The boys looked at her with wide eyes, both dumbstruck. Smoke was billowing from the desk and Ella tried to fight a laugh as she asked, “What happened to you two?”

The twin on the right who was holding what looked like a sack with the bottom blasted apart gave her a grin which made him look more ridiculous. “Nothing, just testing something.”

She cocked her eyebrow and smirked. “Did your prank backfire?”

The head of Lee Jordan popped up, his face also covered in blue. “That was my fault. I didn’t place the exploding snap in the desk right.”

The twins looked at him and the one on the left laughed. “We’ll know to do this ourselves next time.” He handed him a different sack and Lee disappeared again.

 

“What are you hoping to accomplish?” Ella asked, still amused at their faces which made them look like they had giant blueberries for heads.

“Well,” the one on the right, “We are testing this product on good ol Professor Flitwick.”

“Professor Flitwick?” Ella’s smile was gone. “Wait, why him?”

“He’s more good natured than the other professors,” said Lee Jordan who stood up and wiped his hands on his robes. “All done!”

“But, he’s so sweet.” She frowned at them. “He doesn’t really deserve that.”

“Relax, Short-stack,” said the left twin who Ella now realized was George. “Professor Flitwick loves our pranks. We did pranks on him all last year.”

Ella heard someone running down the corridor. “Er..” she could tell the twins and Lee heard the footsteps.

Fred and Lee didn’t hesitate and they pushed past Ella and ran down the hall whilst George bent down to gather their things quickly. Ella looked at the door then back at George and sighed, running over to help him pick up the things. “Come back you two!” It sounded like Filch’s voice was calling after Fred and Lee.

George and Ella were shoving more of the ink filled sacks in a large bag. Ella looked at George in shock. “How many of these were you planning to put in Flitwick’s desk??”

His grin was devious, “These are just spares. We only needed three.”

“Three? That’s a lot! Are you planning to blast his tiny head off?”

“He’s a tough little guy,” George winked. But his grin disappeared when they stepped out of the threshold and came face to face with the caretaker who was looking down at the two of them.

“What have we got here?” snapped Flitch as he snatched the large bag from George’s hand and looked inside. “What are these contraptions?” He leered at the two of them before taking one out.

“I wouldn’t do that!” George said warningly as the caretaker pulled on the string hanging from the small sack. It was as if he had opened a balloon except dark ink instead of air squirted all over his face and chest. Ella gasped and held her hands over her mouth, eyes wide as Mr. Filch blinked through the ink. An evil smile curled onto his face despite the mess all over him.

“So..” He tossed the bag back into the sack. “What were you two doing with these?” He peered into the classroom behind them and continued, “Professor Flitwick?” He tutted. “Why would you try to do something to poor, tiny, Professor Flitwick? It’s detention for you two. Come along,” he barked.

George’s shoulders slumped slightly as they walked the long trek to the caretaker’s office. Ella started to panic as she realized it was almost time for her lesson with Professor Matthews to start. “Er, Mr. Filch,” she looked at him and said quickly, “I really need to leave so I can go to my meeting with Professor Matthews!”

“You should have thought of that before you decided to make trouble with Mr. Weasley here.” His voice was full of vindictive glee.

“She wasn’t a part of it,” said George, “Ella walked in at the wrong time.”

“Spare me the details, boy. She’s just going to have to talk to Professor Matthews and find a new time.”

Disappointed, Ella could see that there was no way to get out of this and her eyes fell to the floor as they approached the office. Inside the small room hung an oil lamp and Ella noted that it smelled somewhat fishy. There were filing cabinets against the walls and Mr. Filch had George and Ella stand to the side as he pulled out a couple of student reports slips. George tapped Ella’s shoulders and nodded to the manacles on top of one of the cabinets. As her eyes widened and George was smirking at her reaction. They waited patiently as Mr. Filch started muttering to himself and every once a in a while glance at the manacles longingly.

Folding his arms, George leaned back against one of the filing cabinets, looking quite calm with the blue ink still caked on his face. Aside from the blue look, Ella envied him. She felt completely nervous about the fact that she was going to miss her first lesson. She doubted that Professor Matthews would want to schedule another one if she heard from Filch that Ella was careless enough to get involved in a prank.

A loud clang came from the ceiling. Filch looked up from the reports and muttered, “What is that?” He paused his writing. A few seconds later, much louder clangs sounded off and Filch stood immediately. “Peeves!” He yelled up to the ceiling as if his voice could penetrate it. “I swear, if you are wrecking the halls, I will send the Bloody Baron after you!” Crashing noises joined alongside the clanging of metal and Mr. Filch yelled, “You two stay put! I will be back!” He ran out of the office.

“Come on,” George grabbed his bag from beside Filch’s desk.

“But-”

“Do you want to get that report filled out? Besides, he’ll only come after me if we leave now.” She looked hesitant.

George’s eyes looked past her and seemed to be mesmerized by something. Ella looked over her shoulder and saw “Confiscated and Highly Dangerous” scribbled in messy writing on the cabinet. George’s eyes seemed to twinkle as he hurriedly came over to the cabinet. “I wonder..” He opened the doors and he and Ella looked inside. There were a couple of items in there: items that appeared similar to the ink sacks, a bright green tube labeled “pus cream,” a few jars with gross looking contents inside, and sitting on top of all these items was a bit of old parchment with nothing on it.

Ella felt herself reach for the parchment and she looked at it curiously. Why would a bit of parchment be in here? George reached for one of the quills and the green pus. He shut the doors quickly and shoved the items in his bag. “Let’s go,” he ushered Ella quickly out of the office and they ran down the corridor from Filch’s office as quickly as possible.

After a few minutes of running and a safe amount of distance from the tiny office, they stopped. George’s forehead was beaded with sweat, but he had a mischievous expression. “Nice job, Shorty.”

“Lucky for us Peeves was causing trouble,” she panted, still holding onto the parchment.

“That was probably Fred,” George said, rearranging the bag and slinging it to his other shoulder. “He wouldn’t have left us to Filch.”

“Why did you pick up your things instead of sprinting with Fred and Lee?” He took the bag and opened the top of the sack, showing her a label inside which read “Bill Weasley.”

“This was my brother’s when he went to Hogwarts. I couldn’t have Filch find it. He would have caught me and Fred, plus this bag has been useful. Besides, I knew Lee and Fred would probably create a diversion so we could escape.”

She looked at him skeptically and the corners of his mouth tugged upwards making his blue face look creepy. The way his face look made her chuckle and she fished in her school bag, finding a spare cloth. “Here,” she handed it over to him. “Get that gunk off your face.”

“Don’t you have a lesson to get to?” He asked as he smeared his face with the handkerchief.

“Oh, yes!” Ella squeaked and she glanced at her watch. Five minutes late. She sprinted away from George who had half his face still blue.

“See you, Shortstack!” He called after her, smirking at her retreating back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I loved. Writing. This. Just for the fun little moments created! I'm so thankful for all of the reads and the likes! It means so much! Feel free to comment ideas you'd like to see or even things you don't want to see happen! I love comments :)

**Author's Note:**

> None of the Harry Potter canonical characters belong to me. All originally characters are either completely my own design or inspired by the characters of the show Code Lyoko.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
